Pride Wounds
by Right4Me
Summary: Come on a journey with Cooper and Charlotte. Sometimes love hurts. Watch Charlotte and Cooper navigate through rough water to reach the destination of eternal love!
1. Chapter 1

Pride Wounds

Cooper was getting ready to go to the gym to blow off some steam. He had a busy day at work. One of his patients needed surgery for a ruptured appendix. Cooper meant to check on the child after work but decided he would check her tomorrow. The pediatric surgeon would make sure she was okay. It took almost half an hour to calm another kid after giving him his vaccinations. Cooper was normally great with his patients but today he was distracted. He counted that Sheldon went to visit Charlotte in her office four times today. He knew it wasn't for a quickie because they always left the blinds open. It seemed like they were in serious conversation whenever he looked through her office window, which was every time he saw Sheldon go in her office. He couldn't make out what was going on with them. Were they still friends with benefits? Were they becoming close friends? Was Sheldon her therapist? Cooper couldn't get these questions out of his mind. He didn't dare ask either one of them.

He decided to work it out with the punching bag at the gym. He stayed at the gym until closing time tonight. There's nothing to go home to these days. He tried calling Pete to go out for a drink. Pete was home with Addison playing family with Lucas. He called Sam. Sam was going to spend some time with Maya and Dink tonight. Dell didn't have a babysitter for Betsy. He couldn't go out either. As he was driving home he remembered a conversation he had with his cousin, Ben, last month. One of Ben's friends and colleagues had just moved to Santa Barbara. He took a job a surgeon. The guy was recently divorced and didn't know anyone in LA. Cooper decided to give his cousin a call.

"Hey Ben, It's Cooper. How ya doing?"

"We're good. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Cooper called Ben rarely. Ben was a cardiothoracic surgeon. He was married with three kids. Cooper always felt like the black sheep in the family compared to his cousin's accomplishments. They were the same age and grew up together. He cousin was always more serious and focused whereas Cooper was all about the playtime.

"Just wanted to see how my favorite cousin was doing? How are the wife and kids?"

"Great! There's nothing new to tell since I called you last month."

"Right. You called to tell me a friend of yours, that surgeon, moved to LA. You wanted to know if I'd show him the ropes. How's he doing?"

"Good. I just spoke to him the other day. He's working at some hospital called St. Ambrose. Are you familiar with it?"

"Spend almost every day there."

"He seems happy. It's been a good distraction for him. It takes his mind off his troubles. You know his wife walking out on him."

"That's why I was calling. I'm going out for drinks tonight and I thought he might need someone to shoot the breeze with."

"Maybe. I'll give you his number. Don't call too late. He's got a kid."

"What? You didn't tell me that before. How old is the kid?"

"I think she's about six or seven. Why?"

"His wife left the kid too?"

"She turned out to be a real piece of work. Turns out she was after his money until she found someone else with more."

"I guess I can rule him out as a drinking buddy tonight if he's got a kid." Cooper was disappointed.

"You sound desperate. You're disappointed a total stranger can't drink with you?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty pathetic these days."

"What's going on with your girlfriend?"

"You mean my ex girlfriend. I really blew that. I'm gonna get going now. Go drown my sorrows alone."

"Hold on. I'll give you Jacks cell#. You can meet up with him for drinks another time."

"I can't take it down right now. I'm driving."

"His name is Jack Roberts. Look him up at the hospital. He's a pediatric surgeon."

"Will do. Have a good night."

The next morning Cooper stopped by St. Ambrose to check on his surgical patient. The pediatric surgeon was just outside the door reviewing the chart.

"Hey, I'm Dr. Cooper Freedman, Amber's pediatrician." He greets reaching out his hand to the attractive doctor, about five years younger than Cooper.

The surgeon shakes Cooper's hand with a firm grip. "Dr. Jack Roberts, pediatric surgery."

"Okay. I'm Ben Freedman's cousin."

"Is that right? He told me he had a cousin living here. Small world."

"How's my patient doing?" Cooper asks getting back to work.

"She did great. As long as everything goes smooth we can discharge her tomorrow morning." Dr. Roberts grins and Cooper notices he is a cheery type. Typical pediatrician.

"If you need someone to show you around, need a drinking buddy, let me know."

"Great, I'll keep that in mind. For the past month I've been trying to settle into the job and get my daughter settled in school. I haven't had time to do much sight seeing or check out any bars."

"Great then." Cooper responds He looks up and sees Charlotte walking over to them.

"Good Morning. Jack I need to move our meeting up to nine this morning if that's okay with your schedule." Charlotte is professional as chief of staff

"Perfect. I'll be at your office at nine Dr. King"

"It's Charlotte. See you then." Charlotte gives a small smile to Cooper and walks away.

Turning to Cooper, Jack says "I've got my first review with Dr. King this morning. I can't believe how nervous I am. My hands are sweating already."

"I know what you mean. It's like being evaluated by Cruella Duville huh?" Cooper rolls his eyes.

"No. That's not what I mean." Jack laughs. "She's the hottest boss I've ever had. Just being around her makes me sweat."

"Oh" Cooper grunts.

"What do you think my chances are with someone like her? I heard she's single."

"Ugh. She's single for a reason man." Cooper pats his back and walks away. "Call me if you want to go out drinking sometime. Just the guys."

Later that night Cooper meets Jack for a drink at his regular drinking spot.

They both order a beer to start out and Cooper asks. "So how did your review go with Dr. King?"

"Great. She told me to call her Charlotte. She's really quite nice. Not the Cruella type at all." Jack chuckles.

"You don't know her." Cooper responds rolling his eyes again.

"I'm going to get to know her better soon."

"How's that?" Cooper sips his beer.

"I asked her out to dinner Saturday night and she accepted."

Cooper began choking on his beer. He had to spit some out on the floor.

"Are you alright man?" Jack looks at him.

"Actually I'm starting to feel a little sick." Cooper throws some money on the bar and leaves.

Cooper's driving home from the bar. His mind is racing. He needs to call someone. He wants to punch someone. He needs advise. He can't call Violet. She's away. Pete and Sam will just tell him he needs to move on. He can't call Sheldon. He's on Charlotte's team. He calls his cousin:

"Hey Ben."

"What's this? You call me twice in one week?" Ben teases.

"I met your little friend, Jack Roberts."

"He told me. You guys were supposed to go drinking tonight."

"We were until he told me he wants to date my ex girlfriend." Cooper was talking very loud now almost yelling into the phone.

"Jack told me he asked his boss out to dinner. Is that your ex?" Ben asks concerned.

"Yes! It's my ex!" Cooper yells.

"Doesn't sound like she's your ex by the way your yelling about it. If she were your ex you wouldn't be this upset." Ben advises. "Do you want her or not?"

"I want her. I want her bad!" Cooper yells.

"Then tell her."

"I can't. I told you I screwed up. I called her names and treated her horrible. I just don't want her dating anyone right now."

"Try apologizing." Ben offers.

"I can't. I want to. I just can't swallow my pride when it comes to her .I need more time."

"Do you want me to tell Jack to break the date?" Ben asks.

"Oh man that would be great. I would owe you so big if you did that." Cooper begged.

"I'll talk to him. There's no guarantee he'll do it but I'll try."

Thanks Ben. Thanks so much." Cooper's talking fast.

"Listen Coop. If you're going to make a move you better make it soon. I could try and stop Jack from going out with her but there may be other guys."

"I know. I just need time to figure this out." Cooper hangs up feeling a little better.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 Pride**

Cooper met up with Dr. Jack Roberts outside his patient, Amber's, hospital room the next morning. "How's Amber doing this morning?" Cooper's in a better mood.

"I'm discharging her." Jack hands Cooper the chart. Cooper notices Jack's not as friendly today.

"Did my cousin call you?" Cooper asks, taking the chart.

"He did." Jack answers matter of factly.

"Are you going to cancel the date?"

"No." Jack turns to walk away.

"Why not?" Cooper calls after him.

Jack walks back towards Cooper. Careful to keep his voice low in the hospital hallway. He explains. "First of all, she's my boss and I'm not about to piss her off. Second, you never mentioned she was your ex. I asked you about her and you referred to her as Cruella. Even at the bar when I told you I asked her out, you never said anything. And third, I like her. No. I'm not canceling." Jack walks away.

Cooper arrives at Oceanside. He notices Sheldon and Charlotte walking out of her office. He stops to scowl at them.

"Got a problem, Cooper?" Charlotte turns up her mouth and wrinkles her nose a bit trying to figure out what the look is for.

"What? One guy's not enough for you anymore? I'd watch out if I were you Sheldon." Cooper walks in his office and slams the door.

"What was that about?" Charlotte looks confused at Sheldon.

"He's not over you. In fact he's deep into you. He thinks I was in your office for ........well........ you know." Sheldon informs.

"That's his problem."

"Charlotte if you ever want him back you need to tell him we're just friends"

"I have a date this Saturday Sheldon, with a new doctor at the hospital."

"That's not a good idea Charlotte." Sheldon advises.

"Why? Why should I sit home and be lonely? "

"Burying your feelings with mindless sex is unhealthy, Charlotte."

"You told me that already. Besides it's dinner. Not sex." Charlotte insists.

"I know you Charlotte and I know it doesn't take much to…….."

Charlotte interrupts. "He's got a little kid. He has to be home before midnight."

Sheldon jokes. "Is he Cinderella?"

Charlotte smiles "No, but he'll have to be home to relieve the babysitter and I'm not staying over with a little kid in the house."

"Good. This guy is safe then." Sheldon smiles.

"Are you jealous? Because, if you want to........….."

"No. I don't want to……well yes I want to...... but it's not right. I'm not jealous. I'm just looking out for you." Sheldon stammers.

"Why are you helping me?"

"I like you. You're a friend and.... you need help."

"Thank you." Charlotte means it sincerely. Sheldon is the only person to spend any time on her since the nasty breakup with Cooper. She likes having Sheldon around.

It's sort of like a child needing a blanket. She looks for Sheldon every morning and doesn't know how she would make it through the day without him.

"If you go out with this doctor either Cooper becomes more angry or else he's going to decide it's time to move on. Are you ready to deal with that?"

"I don't know. The ball's in Cooper's court now. I asked him out for a drink. He turned me down. If a cute doctor asks me out , why shouldn't I go?

"You do know its Cooper's pride that's getting in his way. Don't you?"

"Sheldon..... What do you want from me? I went to him and asked for help with my seminar. I asked him out for a drink. I've swallowed **my **pride when it comes to him. I'm not going to beg. Not after everything he said. Uh Uh. Not happening. If Cooper wants me back, it's his turn to come to me."

"Fair enough. Let's go get some coffee."

Saturday night came and Charlotte's date took her out to a Japanese restaurant.

Charlotte and Jack took their shoe's off and sat on pillows, eating with chop sticks. It was a fun date. They made small talk about the weather in LA, about St Ambrose. They spoke about where they earned their degree's. Jack told a funny story about his daughter. He was careful not to talk about her too much. Charlotte could see he was holding back. At the end of dinner, Cooper was brought into the conversation.

"I hear Dr. Freedman is your ex." Jack offers as he looks at the bill.

"How'd you hear that?" Charlotte asks handing him some money

His cousin is a good friend of mine. He had his cousin ask me to call off the date tonight." He holds his hand up pushing the money back to her. Charlotte drops the money on her plate.

"Why would he do that? That's nuts!" Charlotte's face was getting red.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Jack asks as he hands the bill to the waiter.

Charlotte pauses. She doesn't want to lie. If she learned anything from her time with Cooper, it was not to hold back the truth. "I was with him over two years. We lived together for six months. Kind of like being married without the papers. You can't just erase the feelings."

"I understand. I'm recently divorced myself." Jack puts his hand on top of hers. "I get where you're coming from. I'm glad you were honest."

" Thank you for dinner. Does that mean we're not going out again?" Charlotte looks up at him.

"No. I think we both could use a friend." Jack squeezes her hand.

"Exactly." Charlotte answers. "Tomorrow's Sunday. Why don't I take you around and show you the sights?" Charlotte asks as they put their shoes back on.

"I'd love it." Jack answers as he gets up to leave, holding out a hand to help Charlotte up.

Monday morning Charlotte can't wait to see Sheldon and tell him about her weekend.

As she arrives at her office she finds Sheldon already waiting for her.

"How was the date?" He greets with a big smile.

"It went well." She tells. "Cooper asked him to cancel the date with me. What nerve?"

"Cooper's still in love with you." Sheldon tells her.

"He can't go around chasing my dates away. " Charlotte half smiles at Sheldon.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Sheldon asks. He loves to see her smile. He thinks she doesn't smile nearly enough.

"Enjoying what?" Charlotte plays dumb.

"Torturing Cooper." Sheldon winks at her. Charlotte smiles at Sheldon. "Maybe just a little."

Review if you would like to see chapter three!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three Friends

Charlotte was talking to Jack Roberts in the cafeteria this morning. He made a crack about the scrambled eggs trying to run off his plate. It was so corny Charlotte had to laugh. You could tell this guy spent most of his time with kids. Cooper walked in the cafeteria and saw them laughing. He did an about face and walked out without stopping for food or coffee. This was not lost on either one of them.

"Cooper's not happy we're friends." Jack watches Cooper head out of the cafeteria.

"Don't you worry about it. That's Cooper's problem." Charlotte responds. Sheldon was right. She was enjoying this a little.

Charlotte arrived at Oceanside. She walked past Cooper's office and noticed he looked beat. He was sitting with his elbows on his desk with his head resting in his hands. His eyes were sad. Like a sick puppy's.

"Are you okay Cooper?" Charlotte asks genuinely concerned. Although he probably deserved it she didn't like to see him like this.

"Why do you care? You've got a new boyfriend to worry about now." Cooper answered in a mopey voice.

"He's not my boyfriend. Jack and I are just friends." She doesn't know why she is telling him this. She'll probably kick herself for it later.

"Friends with benefits I suppose?" Cooper quizzes her.

"No. Just friends." Charlotte answers.

"Why is he your friend?"

"Because I need one and so does he."

"You were fine friendless when you dated me." Cooper responds.

"I thought you were all I needed."

"I guess you were wrong." Cooper replies.

"Yup. My momma used to tell me 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket'. I guess I should've listened to momma."

Cooper smiles. "My mother used to tell me the same thing."

"Probably good advice." Charlotte gives a small smile

"What do you say about dividing your eggs into different baskets now?" Cooper asks.

"What do ya mean?" Charlotte asks.

"I mean how about it if I'm one of your baskets. I want to be your friend."

"I can do that. As long as you understand that Jack and Sheldon are my friends too and I'm not screwing any of ya."

Cooper smiles. "I wasn't sure about you and Sheldon anymore." Charlotte could see the relief come over his face and she felt good. Maybe there's hope for us after all she thought.

"We could start with lunch this afternoon?" Cooper asks hopeful.

"Okay. I just have to tell Sheldon. I was going to eat with him but he'll understand. We eat together just about everyday." Chartotte left and headed straight up to Sheldon's office. She couldn't wait to tell him the news.

Cooper watched her walk out of his office. He was happy to hear she wasn't screwing around with either of her 'friends.' He didn't like it that both her friends were male. He wanted to be the MAN in her life again and he was going to do whatever it took to make that happen. He just needed to figure out what that was.

Review please!


	4. Chapter 4

Chap 4 Charlotte and Cooper and Sheldon Oh My!

Cooper was waiting for Charlotte to join him for lunch. He asked the waiter for a cozy table for two in the back. Charlotte and Cooper used to come to this little Mexican restaurant often while they were together. It was small and dimly lit with soft music playing overhead. He could see Charlotte walking toward the table. His eyes lit up at the sight of her. She was letting her hair grow longer again with a little flip to it. Cooper liked her new style but never told her since they were on the outs. She was wearing a skirt and a business jacket. Cooper thought she looked as hot as ever.

"Hey Cooper." Charlotte sits down in the chair across from Cooper at the small cozy table.

"Hi, you look pretty." Cooper smiles and hands her the drink menu.

"Who me?" Charlotte's a little surprised. Her eyes look around to the side of her.

"Yes you." Cooper chuckles. "I like your hair like that. It looks pretty."

"Thank you." Charlotte's a little taken back. "You're in a good mood today to be dishin' out compliments to me." Charlotte looks over the drink menu.

"I need do it more often." Cooper smiles and Charlotte is starting to feel a little awkward.

The waiter comes over to take their drink orders. " Do you think you could pull up another chair? My friend's parking the car." Charlotte asks the waiter.

"No problem miss." The waiter drags a chair from the table next to them and puts it between Cooper and Charlotte. "Are you ready to order drinks yet?"

"Yes. I' ll have a strawberry margarita and a glass of sangria for my friend." Charlotte tells the waiter. Cooper orders himself a beer.

"Who's your friend?" Cooper asks. The disappointment pours out in his expression.

"I told you I was having lunch with Sheldon. I told him we were going for Mexican and he decided to come along. Who knew he has a thing for chimichangas just like you."

"Oh goody." Cooper says sarcastically. Sheldon walks over to the table and takes a seat in the chair between Cooper and Charlotte.

"Good afternoon Cooper. I hope you don't mind me tagging along. Charlotte told me you were coming here and this is one my favorite places."

Cooper just gave him a look. The waiter comes over with the drinks. "Are you ready to order yet?"

"I'll just have a plain piece of chicken with yellow rice. No sauces or spices. Please." Charlotte tells the waiter. "Okay. No sauces or spices is that right? Just plain?" The waiter asks.

"That's correct." Charltotte answers. Cooper looks at her like she has two heads. Sheldon gestures for Cooper to order next.

"I'll have the chimichanga special with black beans and rice. Make it spicy." Cooper tells the waiter.

"That sounds good. I'll have the same." Sheldon tells the waiter. The waiter leaves with the order.

Cooper looks across to Charlotte. "Are you on some weird diet or something? Just plain chicken and plain rice?"

"Spicy kills me. Can't do it anymore." Charlotte answers.

"Since when? You've always been able to do spicy?" Cooper asks.

"Since the breakup." Sheldon interrupts. Charlotte smacks him on the arm and gives him a disapproving look. "I told you to get yourself checked out at the hospital. Did you yet?" Sheldon asks Charlotte.

"When Sheldon? Between running back and forth from the hospital and the practice or should I skip lunch with you?" Charlotte says sarcastically.

"Precisely my point. You're neglecting yourself." Sheldon points out.

"I'm fine." Charlotte assures him.

"Well, what's wrong?" Cooper asks.

"She gets terrible pain and burning when she eats anything spicy or acidic." Sheldon answers. "If you ask me she's got an ulcer. Between working the two jobs and all the stress in her personal life, I wouldn't be surprised"

Cooper makes a guilty face. He knows the personal life stress is on account of him.

"Would you stop Sheldon. I don't have an ulcer." Charlotte sips on her margarita.

The waiter brings the food to the table and the three dig in. The table is small and crowded. It was meant to be a table for two. Their plates are just about touching and the three eat in silence most of the meal. A little awkward. After she finishes half her meal, Charlotte holds her hand to her stomach and announces she's full.

"You've got to be kidding?" Cooper asks her.

"Nope. That's enough for me." Charlotte says as she pulls a bottle of pills from her purse.

"What are those?" Cooper asks.

"Just some over the counter antacids. If I take them now, I won't pay later." Charlotte tells.

"You should get checked out at the hospital or just have Sam give you a quick look over at the practice." Cooper advises.

"That's one thing Cooper and I agree on." Sheldon interrupts still eating his meal.

"I'm fine." Charlotte insists. Sheldon's cell rings. "If you'll excuse me, I have to take this." Sheldon walks away from the table.

"Why'd you bring him?" Cooper asks.

"I told you. He likes Mexican and wanted to come."

"He likes you." Cooper tells her.

"We're just friends Cooper. Just like me and you are just friends." Cooper looks down. He wants to be more than just friends. A lot more.

Sheldon comes back to the table. "I have a crisis with one of my patients. Could you give Charlotte a ride back to the practice?" Sheldon asks Cooper as he puts cash on the table. "This should cover my share."

"No problem. I'll give Charlotte a ride." Cooper smiles.

As they're driving back to the practice Cooper notices Charlotte looks a little uncomfortable. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just that damn rice. I swear they must have put some spices in it. I said no spices."

"I heard you. Why are you having pain?" Cooper asks looking at her holding her stomach.

"Just a little. I'll be fine." Charlotte says pulling the antacid pills back out of her purse and popping another one.

"Easy on those pills. You just took some at the restaurant." Cooper advises.

"I know but they're not workin' so I figure I could take more." Charlotte answers.

"How long have you been having these pains?" Cooper asks.

"I don't know. A couple of month's maybe."

"Has it gotten worse or stayed the same?" Cooper's playing doctor.

"Stop worrying about me, Coop. I'm not your problem anymore." Charlotte answers holding her stomach.

"I'm always going to worry about you Charlotte." Cooper answers.

"You called me a sex toy and heartless among other things. Why would you worry about me? You damn near hate me."

"I don't hate you, Charlotte. I was angry when I said those things. I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you. I didn't mean it."

"You said it." Charlotte looks to him.

"I was more angry with myself. I just took it out on you. Cooper reaches across and puts his hand on top of hers, holding her stomach. "Is this my fault? Do you have an ulcer because of me?"

"No Cooper. It's from the spicy food. Just drive."

They pull into the parking lot at Oceanside. Cooper runs to open the car door for Charlotte to help her out. "Aren't you the gentleman today?" Charlotte says emphasizing her southern drawl.

"Are you feeling better?" Cooper helps her out of the car.

"A little" Charlotte answers as she steps out.

"How about now?" Cooper asks as he presses his lips against Charlotte's and kisses her. Charlotte kisses him back because it feels good. She really does miss him. After they finish the kiss Cooper asks again. "Does that make it better?"

Charlotte looks at him wide eyed. "Yes." She answers. "We have to get back to work". As they walk into the building together neither one of them says anything. Charlotte thinks she must tell Sheldon about this. He'll give her good advice about what to do. They step into the elevator and are greeted by Sam.

"Hey Sam. Do you think you could check Charlotte out this afternoon? She hasn't been feeling well ?"

"Cooper!" Charlotte nudges him with her elbow. "I can make my own damn appointments."

Sam smiles. "It's okay. Charlotte just stop by my office if you want." Sam tells her.

The three get off the elevator and all head to their offices. When Charlotte gets to hers she closes the door and calls Sheldon. She gets his voice mail. "Get down here to my office. I need to talk to you." Charlotte barks into the phone before hanging up and getting back to work.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- A Little Therapy**

Charlotte was finishing up with her last patient of the day. She spots Sheldon outside her office door. Charlotte hands her patient a prescription and tells him. "Make sure you stop by the receptionist on your way out. Make an appointment to see me in one month. I think those pills will do the trick for you." She smiles and gets up to escort the elderly gentleman out of her office. As she escorts him out Sheldon barrels in.

"What did you need to see me about so urgent?" Sheldon asks as he takes a seat behind Charlotte's desk.

"How was your crisis?" Charlotte asks back calmly.

Everything worked out. I was able to talk the patient down." Sheldon reports.

"You caaan be a good therapist." Charlotte stretches out the word smiling at Sheldon. She is clearly in a good mood.

"Ok your message sounded urgent. You wanted me to come up here as soon as I could. Why?" Sheldon crosses he knee over his leg and leans back in the chair.

"Cooper kissed me." Charlotte is standing over Sheldon looking down at him.

"When?"

"After lunch. He drove me back here. He opened the car door for me like a gentleman, helped me out of the car and kissed me. I was stunned. Wasn't expecting that."

"And how do you feel about that? Him kissing you?"

"I don't know."

"Isn't this what you wanted? To get back with Cooper?" Sheldon asks tapping his finger on the desk.

Charlotte's watching his finger tap. "Yes, but he could tell me it was a mistake, like he did after Maya's wedding."

"You're referring to the bathroom sex?"

"Yes" Charlotte's starting to pace around the room. "I don't want to make that mistake again."

"The answer is quite simple. Don't sleep with him. If that's what he's after you'll know quick." Sheldon is back to tapping at the desk and Charlotte can't help but watch him tap.

"So, I won't sleep with him." Charlotte answers firmly as if convincing herself. "But if he asks me out to lunch again or dinner, should I go?" She asks Sheldon pacing the room again.

"Do you want to go?" Sheldon asks

"Yes" Charlotte answers, pauses and then tells Sheldon "But I shouldn't want to go. I think there's something wrong with me."

"Are you referring to your stomach pains?" Sheldon reminds her.

"No. Not that. I mean something wrong, like those women whose husbands beat them and they keep going back."

Sheldon's surprised. He stops his finger tapping, wrinkles his brow and asks. "Has Cooper ever hit you?"

"No. No. He's never gotten physical with me. Well there was this one time but…...." Charlotte's pacing.

"What one time?" Sheldon asks calmly.

"He never hit me but there was this time he……"

"Go ahead just say what's on your mind." Sheldon is sounding more like a therapist than a friend now.

"He just got home from the hospital. I asked him to give me another chance. He started yelling at me. More like screaming at me to stop talking. Then he grabbed me tight and started kissing me. I didn't know what to do. I didn't kiss back but I didn't exactly push away either. He pushed me onto the bed….."

"Then what happened?" Sheldon asks.

"Nothing. He couldn't…………perform."

"That's good. His conscience got to him." Sheldon tells her.

"No. He said it was my fault. It was because I neglected to tell him I was married before."

"You know that's not true. It was something in Cooper's head that caused him not to perform."

"He told me I made him feel like less of a man. That it was my fault." Charlotte is still pacing.

"Is that the only time he put his hands on you in anger?" Sheldon watches her nervously pace back and forth. Charlotte doesn't know if she should tell this to Sheldon. It's private stuff between her and Cooper. She just needs another opinion. So she decides to spill it.

"Yes. But he said a lot of stuff to me in anger. Very hurtful stuff." Charlotte can't look at Sheldon while talking to him anymore. She sits in her chair and looks out her window.

"What did he say?"

"He called me some bad names. Stuff I don't want to repeat." Charlotte's gazing out the window.

"It helps to talk about it." Sheldon tells her softly. "Keeping stuff like this inside doesn't help people with stomach ulcers."

"He called me…. asextoy….." Charlotte blurts it out as fast as she can.

Sheldon grabs a pad of paper and pen off Charlotte's desk and begins taking notes. "A sex toy? Is that what you said?"

Charlotte turns to see him writing it down. She feels like he _is _her therapist. She wonders if she should pay him for his time. She has insurance and money isn't an issue. So she asks. "How much do you charge by the hour?" For that she earns herself a chuckle.

"I'm your friend. Taking notes is just a habit. So he called you his sex toy. Is that right?"

"That wasn't the worst of it." She tells him and looks out the window again.

"Tell me the worst."

Charlotte stares out the window. "He called me a trashy little girl, just trying to please her dead daddy." Charlotte's voice cracks a little as she says it and the tears start to form.

Sheldon is busy writing the quote down. He asks as he writes. "And do you know what he meant by that?"

Cooper and I were going to get married after my father died. I wanted to elope in Vegas. Cooper wanted a big white wedding in front of all our family and friends. I told him I couldn't walk down the aisle with out my father."

"So Cooper knew you were close with your father?" Sheldon asks.

"Yes. He came to Alabama when big daddy was dying. He shut off his life support for me. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I cried on his lap on the plane on the way home. He knows I miss my father. How could he say something like that to me?" Charlotte could feel the tears running down her cheeks now. She didn't dare face Sheldon and let him see them. She turned her chair so her back was to him. It was easier to talk this way.

"He was trying to hurt you. He was digging deep. Fighting dirty." Sheldon responds. "What else did he say to hurt you?"

"He called me heartless. William White fired me from Pacific Wellcare because he said I was heartless. It really hurt me and Cooper knew that. Heck, I didn't even tell Cooper why I got fired for months. I finally confided in him and he throws it in my face.

"He wanted to say what he knew would sting the most." Sheldon councils.

"But why? Why does he hate me..... I loved him?" Charlotte still has her back to Sheldon as she wipes her eyes with a tissue. She knows Sheldon is aware of her tears so she can't look at him.

" He was hurting and he wanted to make you hurt just as bad. He's angry about your first marriage. It was his way of getting even with you."

There is a soft knock at the door. The door opens and Cooper walks in. Cooper notices what's going on. He sees Charlotte with her back to Sheldon looking out the window. Sheldon is sitting on the other side of the desk with his pen and notepad. "I didn't realize I was interrupting. Charlotte saw her last patient a half hour ago. I wanted to ask if she would like to go out for a drink after work?" He tells Sheldon since Charlotte is facing the window with her back to them.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now." Sheldon tells him.

"I think we should let Charlotte answer that." Cooper tells Sheldon.

Charlotte wipes her eyes as best she could. She makes sure they feel dry before she turns to face Cooper and Sheldon. "It's okay Sheldon. I think I've had enough shrinking for today."

"I'm not going to leave you with him Charlotte." Sheldon and Cooper both notice her mascara smeared over her cheeks.

"What are you talking about?" Cooper raises his voice looking at Sheldon.

"It's okay Sheldon. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." Charlotte tells him.

"What?" Cooper is dumbfounded. "I'm not going to hurt her." Cooper's still looking at Sheldon.

"You've done enough of that already." Sheldon says as he walks out of the office. "And you." He says pointing to Charlotte. "I want you to call me tonight."

Sheldon leaves and Cooper turns to Charlotte. "What'd you tell him?"

Charlotte answers. "Just some stuff that happened while we were fighting."

"Why would you tell him that?" Cooper asks her.

"Because I need help figuring out my feelin's and he's a damn good therapist. That's why".

Cooper teies to clean the mascara off Charlotte's cheeks. He wipes gently with the tissue. He raises her head up to look at him. "I'm sorry." He says and he starts to kiss her softly. She kisses him back. She's not sure if this is the right thing to do but she does it anyway.

After the kiss Cooper asks her again if she wants to go out for a drink. "I don't think that's a good idea" Charlotte replies softly. She really does want to go for the drink with him.

"Why not?" Cooper asks.

"It might lead to more. You know how we get after drinks."

"Let's just see what happens." Cooper replies rubbing her arm.

"No. I can't take that chance. Sheldon says I shouldn't sleep with you."

"What? Sheldon told you that. That weasel." Cooper mumbles under his breath and Charlotte can't make out what he is saying.

"What?" Charlotte asks.

"Sheldon wants you for himself. Sheldon is so into you. He came out on _our lunch date"_

"He's a friend Cooper." Charlotte assures him.

"Maybe to you he's a friend. But Sheldon wants more. I could tell." Cooper insists.

Now Charlotte's stomach starts to hurt and she holds her hand to it and goes to get her purse. She pulls out the bottle of pills. Cooper feels guilty. He knows he's the cause of her stomach pains. "Let me take you home. Let me take care of you. I promise no sex." He looks her in they eyes.

"Okay." She answers.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 It's Cooper

Charlotte and Cooper arrive at Violet's house. "I'm going upstairs to change. Make yourself comfortable Coop. You know where everything is." Charlotte says as she heads up the stairs.

"I'll fix you something to drink. What would you like?" Cooper calls up to her.

"That's not a good idea, us drinking." She stops halfway up the stairs and calls down to him.

"Not alcohol. I mean what do you want to drink? Ice water, a soft drink?"

Cooper wouldn't have minded if she asked for alcohol but he couldn't say that.

" Look what's in the fridge." Charlotte heads up the stairs. She decides on wearing a sweat suit. It's comfortable and she's not feeling that well. She doesn't want to wear anything that might turn Cooper on. This sweat suit is the one she wears on her days off for house work. It's comfortable and loose fitting. She slips into it,uses the bathroom. pulls her hair up into a pony tail washes off her make up and heads downstairs to find Cooper.

Cooper's in the kitchen fixing the drinks. "What are you concocting there?" Charlotte asks as he stirs a pitcher with a large spoon.

"Sweet tea" He answers as he stirs.

"You know how to make sweet tea?" Charlotte asks.

"I looked up the recipe on your laptop. It's just iced tea mix and sugar. Just need to know how much sugar to add." He answers.

"Why are you making that?" Charlotte asks licking up some sugar he spilled on the counter with her finger.

"There isn't much else here. I found the iced tea mix and sugar in the cabinet. When I went to Alabama that time, you served me sweet tea. I liked it."

Charlotte wipes up the rest of the spilled sugar with a cloth. " Momma made it for my brothers. I preferred lemonade."

"You want lemonade? Do you even have any mix for that?"

"No. No. Sweet tea is fine. Besides the lemonade would be too acidic for me too handle right now." Cooper hands Charlotte a glass of the sweet tea.

Charlotte sips out of her glass. "Mmmm. It makes me feel nostalgic for home."

Cooper drinks his sweet tea. "It is good. So do you miss home? You don't talk about home a lot?" They both sit down at the kitchen table with their glasses.

"Lately I do. I've been thinking about it a lot." Charlotte answers and then sips her tea.

"Why lately?" Cooper asks.

"It's been lonely here since Violet left. I have Sheldon but he's always shrinking me. I miss home. There's always plenty of people around the house, my brothers, their girlfriends, momma, even my grandma. That house is never quiet. I still have friends in the neighborhood that I talk to. Here it's just me." She feels a little embarrassed whining about how lonely she is, but she doesn't care. Sheldon's right, keeping her feelings in hasn't done her any favors. She even thinks she has an ulcer because of it.

Cooper gets up and looks in the cabinets. "Do you have anything to eat? I'm starting to get hungry."

"There's cereal and crackers in the cabinet by the fridge." She thinks Cooper isn't impressed by her whining anyway so she goes on. "I was thinking of moving back home after Violet left. The only thing stopping me is my job at the hospital. I feel like St. Ambrose is mine. I wish I could just pick it up and move it to Alabama."

Cooper chuckles as he puts some plates on the table with cheese and crackers he found. "We could go back to Alabama and visit. We'll look at the calendar and see when we can both take some time off."

Charlotte looks at him. "Cooper. We're broken up"

Cooper spreads some cheese on a cracker and hands it to her. "We don't have to be. You said you didn't want to break up, that it was just a fight."

"That was before you brought up my dead daddy amongst other stuff." Charlotte takes a bite out of the cracker.

Cooper grabs her hand. He looks her in the eyes. "Charlotte, I am so sorry I said that. If I could take it all back I would. I was out of my mind, a real ass." You need to forgive me."

"I want to..... but I don't know if I should...... I mean..... you must hate me to say those things. You don't say those things to someone you love."

"I love you. Charlotte if I didn't love you so much I wouldn't have been so angry. I was shocked when you said you were married. Plus I had a lot of stuff going on. I was under alot of pressure. I didn't have the money for the practice. I got thrown in jail. Evan lied to me. I felt like everyone was lying to me. You decided to become a sexologist without talking to me. I felt pressure in the bedroom because you're a sexologist, the expert on sex. I thought you were judging me in bed and comparing me to your ex. I couldn't do it and it just made me feel worse. I was humiliated and I took it all out on you. I was wrong. I was just wrong and I'm so sorry."

Charlotte sits there listening to him and she feels the tears brimming in her eyes. "I understand." She says and gets up and goes into the living room. She sits on the couch and puts the TV on. She didn't want the waterworks to start in front of Cooper. She understands but she doesn't know if she's ready to forgive. The things he said were just too mean.

Cooper comes in the living room and sits down next to her on the couch. Charlotte flips through the channels with the remote. "Are you okay?" Cooper asks. "Do you want me to leave?"

" Didn't I just finish telling you how damn lonely I am? Why would I want you to leave?"

"I don't know. You got up and walked away from me." Cooper answers watching her flip quickly through the channels.

"And why do you think that was?" Charlotte snips.

"It was getting too emotional?" He wagers a guess.

"Bingo." She answers still channel surfing.

Cooper grabs the remote out of her hand and shuts off the TV. "This is the problem Charlotte. You never like to talk about the tough stuff, the emotional stuff."

"Don't you think I know that Cooper? Don't you think I know how screwed up I am that I can't talk about anything, that I keep everything inside. I screwed things up with you because of it. Now I'm probably gonna die of an ulcer because of it." Charlotte's shouting at him.

"Calm down, just calm down." Cooper wraps his arms around her. "Listen to me. You're not going to die. I'm here with you. I want to help you." He rubs her head with his hand and whispers. "Let me help you."

She looks up at him. She looks into his blue eyes and sees them looking at her. That's the Cooper she fell in love with. She sees the kind, gentle Cooper. She sees the Cooper that loves her. She reaches up and kisses him on the lips. He hesitates but she continues to kiss him until he starts kissing back. She starts to unbutton his shirt and run her hands across his chest. She wants to be with him. She's not sure she's doing the right thing. She thinks Sheldon wouldn't approve as she pulls Cooper's shirt off. Cooper stops and looks at her. "Are you sure you want this ?" He asks.

"Yes " She answers.

"Charlotte maybe we should wait." Cooper says as she nibbles on his neck and he moans.

Charlotte thinks about it for two seconds and says. "I want to be with you Cooper. Now." It doesn't take much for Cooper to oblige and the clothes start flying all over Violets living room.

Cooper wakes up a few hours later to the sound of the front door opening. Charlotte's sound asleep with her head and half her body laying on top of him. She's finally able to get a good nights sleep. She's exhausted from not feeling well and the sex. Cooper's warm body against her is the perfect sleeping pill. Cooper pulls the blanket over them. Neither of them are wearing anything. He sees Violet's shadow walk into the living room.

"Vi? Is that you?" He says a little louder than a whisper so as not to wake up Charlotte.

"Cooper?" Is that you?" Violet asks in return. Violet turns on a dim light.

"Hi" Cooper says quietly. "Welcome home."

"I see Romeo and Juliet are back together." Violet smiles at Cooper.

"I don't know. We're working on it." Cooper explains. Charlotte moves her head and makes a snoring noise. Cooper and Violet both giggle quietly.

"I'd get up and give you a hug except I don't have any clothes on."

"That's okay Coop. It can wait until the morning."

"I'll bring Charlotte upstairs. She'll be more comfortable in her bed. If you don't mind looking away while I get dressed and bring her up?" Cooper asks.

"I'll go in the kitchen and have a snack." Violet quickly heads to the kitchen while Cooper gets up and throws his clothes back on. He's tries to dress Charlotte who's still sleeping. She opens her eyes for a minute and looks at him. " Violet's home. I have to get you dressed to go upstairs." Charlotte closes her eyes again. Cooper thinks it's cute but so unlike Charlotte to just let him dress her. He carries her upstairs and she starts to wake again. "What's going on?" She says sleepily.

"I'm bringing you to bed. You'll be more comfortable there." He lays her on the bed and pulls the covers up over her. He kisses her head and looks at her. She looks like an angel. He thinks to himself. _This is the real Charlotte_. This is not the same Charlotte that bitches at everyone at the hospital. He knows that's an act. This is the real Charlotte…. The unguarded Charlotte that just let him carry her upstairs. He feels terrible about the things he said to hurt her. He feels the tears coming to his eyes. He wipes them away and heads downstairs to talk to Violet.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 The Next Day

Cooper joined Violet in the kitchen and gave her a welcome home hug. "How are you?" He asks with a wide grin.

"I'm great. I feel like the old me again." Violet answers pulling out of the bear hug. "So how are you and Charlotte?" She smiles.

"We're working on it." Cooper explains. "I've forgiven her and now she needs to forgive me." Cooper sits and finishes his glass of sweet tea sitting at the table.

Violet pours herself a glass. "Isn't there anything to eat in this house?" She's looking in the fridge. "Just a couple containers of yogurt and some bananas." She pulls the yogurt out of the fridge and starts chopping the bananas.

"Charlotte's on a bland diet. There's not much in the way of snack food, if that's what you're looking for." Cooper explains.

"This will do." She scrapes the bananas into the yogurt and offers the other container to Cooper. "Why does Charlotte need to forgive you?" She sits down at the table next to him.

"For the way I treated her when we broke up." Cooper digs into his yogurt and banana's.

"That's to be expected. You were upset. She didn't tell you about the marriage." Violet spoons the yogurt in her mouth.

" I went above and beyond with the things I said." Cooper confesses.

"What'd you say?" Violet asks, still eating.

Cooper scrunches up his face to one side. "I don't want to tell you. But trust me, it was bad."

"Oh come on, Coop. You don't have a bad bone in your body." Violet sips her sweet tea.

"I haven't been me lately. I'm getting back to myself, just like you did." Cooper answers. "I think I'll get going. See you at work tomorrow." He gives Violet a peck on the head and hurries out the door.

The next morning Charlotte wakes up. She looks for Cooper but he's gone. Alone again. Last night was probably a mistake. She doesn't care. She enjoyed being with Cooper, even if it was a short time. Cooper left without saying goodbye.

She heads to the kitchen and spies Violet's suitcases scattered around the living room. Some of them half open as if Violet was rummaging through them. She walks into the kitchen to a mess. There are empty glasses and yogurt containers on the table. She goes for a banana but they're gone along with her yogurt. The peels are still on the counter. "There goes breakfast." She says to herself." She decides this is starting out to be one of those days.

Charlotte heads to her office and is greeted by Sheldon. "You didn't call me last night, like I told you to." Sheldon follows her into her office.

"Cooper stayed over." Charlotte tells him bluntly.

"Tell me you didn't sleep with him." Sheldon holds his breath.

"I did. No regrets." Charlotte sets her bag on the desk.

"Charlotte. I'm afraid you're making things worse for yourself." Sheldon advises.

"No shrinking today, Sheldon. It's 8am and I'm already having a bad day." She sits at her desk.

"Why?" Sheldon asks.

"First off. Violet's home which is great but she ate my food and left me the mess."

"Violet's back?" Sheldon's surprised.

Yeah!" Charlotte answers. "I didn't see her. She was sleeping when I left but all signs of her were there. Messy kitchen, my food gone, her suitcases scattered all over."

Sheldon chuckles. "Is that why you're having a bad day?"

"I'm starvin'. She ate two yogurts and all my bananas. I can't drink coffee cause the caffeine bothers my stomach. Cooper left while I was asleep without saying goodbye."

"That's what's really bothering you? Cooper?"

"Yes Sheldon. Okay? Are you happy?" Charlotte boots up her laptop. "I have work to do before my patients get here. Close the door on your way out."

"Charlotte. We should talk about this."

"I said out, Sheldon." Charlotte snaps. She's not in the mood to talk to Sheldon today. Cooper told her Sheldon wants her for himself. She's not sure.

Cooper comes into her office a little while later. "Good News. Violet's back?" Cooper's very cheery this morning.

"Yup. She ate my breakfast." Charlotte grumbles.

"Was that yogurt your breakfast?"

"Yes and the bananas." Charlotte's looking at the computer.

"I helped her eat them after she got home." Charlotte looks up at him. Cooper continues. "She came in the door and saw us on the couch together. You were so tired. I carried you up to bed. Then I went down to talk to Violet and apparently ate your breakfast."

"You didn't say goodbye." Charlotte looks back down at the computer.

"You were sleeping. I kissed you goodbye." Cooper tells her. She doesn't look at him. "I had a good time with you last night Charlotte."

"I bet you did. I'm your sex toy afterall." Charlotte couldn't help to say it.

Cooper sighs. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about us. I enjoyed spending time with you, not the sex. Cooper answers.

"Now the sex is bad?" She asks sarcastically.

"No. It was amazing. But that's not why I was there. You pushed the issue if you remember. "

Charlotte does remember. Cooper gave her an out. He asked her if she was sure she wanted to sleep with him . She dropped the subject. "I've got work to do Cooper if you don't mind."

"How about lunch this afternoon? You pick the spot."

"Can't do it. I've got meetings at the hospital after I'm done here. I'm working through lunch today."

"I thought you skipped breakfast?"

"I didn't skip it. You and Violet ate it. Remember?" Charlotte types some stuff into her laptop. "Cooper. I have a busy day. Don't you have any snot noses to tend to?"

"Fine. Stop and say goodbye before you leave."

"Yeah right." Charlotte answers.

Later in the day Cooper goes to the hospital to see Charlotte. He finds her in the conference room finishing up her meeting. He notices one of the doctor's in the staff meeting is Jack. As the other doctors exit the meeting room, Jack stops to talk to Charlotte. Cooper waits outside in the hall. When Jack and Charlotte walk out of the room they are surprised to find Cooper standing there.

"Hello Jack." Cooper is polite and extends his hand.

"Cooper." Jack greets back shaking hands reluctantly.

"What are you doing here Cooper?" Charlotte asks.

"I brought you something to eat since you worked through lunch. Sorry, about your your breakfast." He hands her a white paper bag and a water. Charlotte takes the bag. Truth be told she was grateful. She hadn't eaten a thing all day.

"I'm gonna go. Work to do" Jack says. "I'll see you tonight." He tells Charlotte.

"What's that about? Where will you see him tonight?" Cooper's anxious.

"He wants to see that movie that just came out. I told him I'd go."

Cooper sighs. "Charlotte. I thought we were trying to work things out?" They walk to Charlotte's office.

"I'm working on it Cooper." Charlotte sits at her desk and opens the bag pulling out a bagel smeared with butter."

"I tried to get something that wouldn't bother your stomach." Cooper tells.

"Thank you." She genuinely means it. She bites into the bagel like she's starved. After she swallows the bite she tells him. "He's a friend Cooper. You told me when we broke up all I had was you. I need friends. Let me go to the movies with Jack without getting all petty. Okay?" She reaches for his hand.

"Why do all your friends have to be guys?" He says as he takes her hand in his and swings it gently.

"Violet's your best friend. I have to put up with that." She tells him taking another bite of her bagel.

"Okay. Go to the movies with him if you have to, but don't let him do this." Cooper leans over and kisses her. This one is long and passionate. After he lets go of her he says. "You're mine."

Charlotte smiles at him because truth be told she liked the kiss. She liked him telling her she was his. Cooper leaves her office and Charlotte thinks. "All this from the man who said all those cruel things". She wants to call Sheldon for his opinion but she can't. She's not sure of Sheldon's agenda. She finishes her bagel and her stomach begins to hurt.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Charlotte and Jack arrived at Violet's house around 10pm, after an early dinner and movie. Violet was asleep on the couch in her leopard snuggy. She was still wearing her glasses and her hair was astray. The TV was on, she must have fallen asleep watching.

Charlotte and Jack came in the door. "I'll go upstairs and see if I can find that manual for you Jack. You can wait in the living room if you like."

Jack walks into the living room and Violet startles awake. Her eyes are adjusting trying to make out the figure standing in front of her as she sits herself up on the couch.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here. I'm Jack Roberts, Charlotte's friend."

"That's okay." Violet says as she stands up to shake his hand. "I'm Violet Turner." Violet notices Jack is an attractive man in his thirties. She takes in his green eyes and knock out smile. She's going to have a word with Charlotte later about bringing hot looking guys to the house without warning her first. "Have a seat." She points out a spot on the couch where he can sit. "How was the movie?"

Jack sits down. "It was funny." Violet sits at the opposite end of the couch.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"No. Charlotte's looking for a manual for me and then I have to go. My babysitter needs to get home."

Charlotte comes down the stairs. "I see you've met. Here's the manual Jack"

The door bell rings. "I'll get it." Charlotte calls out as she heads to the door. Charlotte's surprised to see Cooper standing at the door. "Why are you here Coop?"

"I was driving by and saw the lights on. I figured I'd say hi." Cooper walks in the door and says hello to Violet and Jack.

"Thanks for the manual Charlotte. I gotta run." Jack heads for the door. "It was nice to meet you, Violet."

"I hope you're not leaving because of me?" Cooper announces.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm leaving because of my daughter." He smiles at Cooper then turns to Charlotte. "I'll pick you up at ten for the carnival Saturday."

"Bye." Charlotte walks him to the door.

"What's this about a carnival?" Cooper asks.

"Jack's taking his daughter to the carnival Saturday and asked me to go." Charlotte answers.

"I thought he was just a friend? Now you're meeting his daughter?"

"He is a friend, Cooper. If it was more than that he wouldn't introduce me to his daughter yet."

"I don't like this." Cooper grumbles.

"Tell him to stop." Charlotte looks at Violet. "How come you two are allowed to be friends but I can't have a guy friend?"

"She's got a point Coop." Violet responds.

"Thanks for the support." Cooper says sarcastically to Violet.

"I think I'll go upstairs." Violet smiles wearily and leaves them alone to talk.

"Get a grip Cooper." Charlotte tells him firmly.

Cooper looks at her with big sad eyes. "I don't trust him."

"Do you trust me?" Charlotte asks. Her voice is softer now.

"Of course, I trust you."

"Good answer." Charlotte walks over to him and gives him a soft kiss.

"Why are you really here Coop? You don't need to pass by Violet's house."

"I confess. I wanted to see if you were home yet. I missed you."

"I thought so. You want something to drink?"

"Sure" Copper answers. "How about one of your martinis?"

Charlotte gets up and mixes him a martini. "Aren't you having a drink?" Cooper asks.

"Are you kidding? My stomach's on fire." Charlotte holds her hand to her stomach.

"You need to have that checked out."

"I'll be fine." She says as she hand him the drink and sits on the couch next to him.

"Promise me you'll get it checked out. Okay?" Cooper holds her chin up so she's looking at him."

"Okay." She answers and then lays her head on his shoulder.

Cooper sips his martini and rubs her back with his other hand.

"Cooper" Charlotte says quietly. "You were right when you said all I had was you. I can't get it out of my head. I need Jack as a friend."

"I shouldn't have said that." Cooper gently kisses the top of her head.

"Everyone thinks I'm a heartless bitch."

"Everyone doesn't think that, Charlotte, the ones that do, they don't know you."

"It didn't used to bother me, that they thought that."

"It bothers you now?" Cooper asks quietly still rubbing her back.

"It's all I think about at night. I hear those words over and over. Hard to sleep ya' know?"

"What words?" Cooper asks.

"You calling me a bitch, heartless, a sex toy, all of it." Charlotte's head is still on his shoulder and her eyes are dazed staring ahead.

"None of that stuff was true. I was a jerk to say it."

"Hmmhm." Charlotte mumbles out.

"How's your stomach feeling?"

"A little better."

"Should I go home now?" Cooper starts to get up.

"No. Don't leave." She looks up at him.

"Okay. " Cooper leans back down on the couch and continues to rub her back. "I'm going to fix this." He whispers.

"What?" Charlotte looks up and asks.

"Nothing." He tells her as she falls asleep, her head on his shoulder.

He notices she's asleep and apologizes for everything he said. "I promise I'll find a way to make things right again, Charlotte." He presses a soft kiss on her head and rubs her back while she sleeps.


	9. Chapter 9 Dr Joey

Chapter 9

Saturday morning Charlotte answers the door to find Jack and his daughter waiting.

"Good Morning. Come in." Charlotte greets them with a smile. Charlotte looks at the little girl, a bit nervous. Charlotte's not used to having small children around. Olivia is a cute little red head about seven years old.

The little girl reaches her hand out to Charlotte. "Hi. I'm Olivia Jo Roberts but you can call me Livi. Nobody calls me Olivia."

Charlotte returns the handshake. "I'm Charlotte." She smiles.

"Charlotte, hee hee." The little redheaded girl laughs. "Like the spider?"

"Yes. Like the spider." Charlotte answers and sighs. She feels like she's seven again. She thinks back to the children that used to tease her about the spider from Charlotte's Web.

"Charlotte was an intelligent spider, ya' know." She tells the little girl.

"I know." Olivia giggles. "But I can't call you that. I can't call you a spider's name. Charlotte the spider dies."

"Olivia Jo!" Jack scolds. "Use your manners."

"It's okay." Charlotte tells him. "She can call me Joey. My full name is Charlotte Joe. When I was a kid I went by Joey, because of the spider and all."

"No kidding?" Jack asks.

"Hardly ever used Charlotte til I got to college."

"Okay then, Joey." He pats her on the back.

"Can I call you Joey?" Olivia asks.

"It's Dr. Joey to you." Jack tells his daughter. Jack's cell phone vibrates. "Let me just take this call." A few minutes later Jack comes back in the room. "I've got bad news." He tells his daughter. "Livi, I can't take you to the carnival today. I have an emergency at work."

The little girl's smile drops and tears immediately come to her eyes. "But daddy you promised. I wanted to go on the rides and get cotton candy."

"I know, Livi, but daddy is a doctor and these things happen"

Livi is trying hard to fight back her tears, not let Charlotte or Jack see them. She runs to the car.

"Where's she goin'?" Charlotte asks.

"She's going to get Mr. Bear, her teddy." Jack answers. "She's doesn' t want to cry in front of us. She'll cry to Mr. Bear. We take him everywhere, just in case."

Charlotte takes a deep breath and sighs. "I'll take her." She can't believe she said that. Livi reminds her of herself. "I'm not doing anything else today. Was lookin' forward to the carnival too."

"Are you sure, Charlotte? She can be a handful."

"I was too, at seven. Get going to work. Ya got an emergency waitin'."

Livi comes in the door with her face pressed into Mr. Bears soft fuzzy belly.

"It's okay, Livi, Dr. Charlotte, I mean, Dr. Joey, will take you to the carnival."

The little girl pulls her face away from the teddy and looks up. "Really?" She asks.

"Yes." Charlotte smiles at the little girls tear stained face.

"Thanks Dr. Joey." The little girl gives her a big hug. Charlotte is taken back by it at first but after a few moments it feels good.

"I'm leaving now. You girls have fun." Jack gives them both a little kiss on the top of their heads and hands Charlotte some cash.

"That's okay, I got it." Charlotte tells him.

"Take it. She's going to ask you for everything she sees. Use it for cotton candy, games and one souvienier" he looks at the girl. "Got that Livi? One souvienier." He says as he leaves.

"I gotta get my shoes on and my purse, then we can get going." Charlotte tells Livi as she goes upstairs.

The doorbell rings and Livi answers to see a tall dark haired man there.

"Hello." The little redhead greets.

"Hello." Cooper greets back. "Who are you?" Cooper smiles.

"I'm Olivia Joe Roberts." She reaches out her hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Cooper." Cooper realizes this is Jack's daughter and figures Jack is there. "Is Violet Turner here?" He asks.

"No. It's just me and Dr. Joey." The little redhead tells him.

"Who?" he asks.

"Dr. Joey." She points out Charlotte as she comes to the door.

"Oh good. Cooper you're here. Wanna go to the carnival?" Charlotte 's relieved. Cooper's great with kids. Charlotte's a little nervous about spending the day alone with a seven year old.

"I…. I guess." He answers. "Where's Jack?"

"He's at the hostibal for a 'mergency." The little girl tells. "It's just me and Dr. Joey, unless you want to come."

"Sure. Sounds fun. I'll go with you and Dr. Joey." He scrunches up his face and looks at Charlotte wondering where the name came from.

"Joe's my middle name. They called me Joey when I was a kid." Charlotte tells him bluntly as they head out the door.

"Yeah . The kids used to tease her cuz her name is Charlotte like the spider from Charlotte's Web." Livi tells Cooper.

Cooper looks to Charlotte as they get in the car. "You never told me that."

"No big deal Cooper. I was a kid." Charlotte says fastening her seatbelt. "Is everybody ready to take off for the carnival?"

"Yeah!" Cooper and Livi both say with excitement pouring out in their voices. Charlotte can't help but smile.

.


	10. Chapter 10 The Carnival

Chapter 10 The Carnival

Charlotte, Cooper and Livi were finishing up their sno cones as they walked past the popcorn stand. "Ooooh! Can I have popcorn?" Livi begs.

"You just had a hot dog with fries and a sno cone. You don't need popcorn too." Charlotte's holding Mr. Bear and finishing up her own sno cone.

"Pleeease? Doc Joey I really want some."

"Let her have it Char. We're at a carnival." Cooper says licking his sno cone.

"Okay fine. But that's it. Don't ask me for the next thing you see." Charlotte hands her some money to buy the treat like a big girl. Charlotte and Cooper watch as she comes back with a big tub of popcorn.

"Oooh. Can I have some?" Cooper asks as he reaches in the tub and grabs a handful.

"Sure." Livi answers happily. "You want some Dr. Joey?"

"Hell no." Charlotte answers. "I'm startin' to feel sick as it is."

"Language, Charlotte" Cooper leans in and reminds her.

"Oh yeah. Forgot." Charlotte tells him.

"Can we play that game?" Livi's pointing to a carnival game.

"Yeah. I love that game." Cooper and Livi rush over to sit on a stool before the bell rings to start. Cooper puts some money down for both of them to play against other carnival contestants. Charlotte holds the popcorn and Mr. Bear. She roots them on as they squirt water into a plastic clown's mouth, trying to pop the balloon above his head. "POP"

"You won, Dr. Freedman." Livi shouts out. Cooper gives the little girl a high five.

"What would you like for a prize sir?" The carnival worker points to a row of stuffed animals.

"What do you like, Livi?" Cooper asks the little girl.

"I can't have anymore stuffed animals. Mr. bear will get jealous. He's the only one for me." She answers.

"Okay Char. You pick one then." Cooper pulls her over to the game counter.

"I like the monkey." Charlotte tries to point out a stuffed monkey. Her arms are still full.

The attendant hands her the monkey. "You can call him Mr. Monkey. He can be Mr. Bear's friend." Livi yells out excited.

"Good idea." Charlotte tells her as she admires the soft cuddly monkey with extra long arms.

"Can we go on that ride now?" Livi points out a musical ride that spins around fast.

"I love that ride." Cooper agrees. The three of them head over to the ride.

"Let me get in the seat first and then you Char. Keep Livi on the outside. The gravity will to push you into my end of the seat."

" Coop, I've been on rides before." Charotte looks at him as they climb into the car of the ride.

The music starts and the ride begins. Cooper grabs Charlotte's hand and she squeezes it tight. The ride moves faster and faster, whipping around in circles. Charlotte suddenly feels something warm and wet on her chest. She looks at Livi who's wearing a sick face. "Stop the ride!" Charlotte shouts to the ride operator. The ride stops and Livi looks horrified. Charlotte looks down at the regurgitated popcorn, sno cone and hot dog mess on her shirt. Livi starts to cry.

"Okay come on. Let's find a bathroom". Cooper hurries them out of the ride.

Cooper carries Livi and they rush to the closest bathroom. "I gotta clean myself up." Charlotte tells him as she goes in.

"Charlotte. You have to help Livi clean up too. I can't go in the ladies room."

"Fine. Come on." Charlotte tells the little girl. Livi can see Charlotte's annoyed.

Charlotte grabs a bunch of paper towels and wipes off the mess on Livi's shirt. "You only got a little bit on your shirt. Most of it's on me. Why are you cryin'?" Charlotte says to Livi.

"I didn't mean to do that to you. I don't know why it went on you more than me." The little red head girl says through tears.

"It's okay. It was from the gravity that it got on me.. ..I know you didn't do it on purpose." Charlotte looks in the mirror at her shirt and tries her best to clean it off with wet paper towels." I don't think I can fix this." She says. "I'm a mess."

The little girl starts crying again.

"It's okay." Charlotte tells her. "Here, rinse out your mouth." She shows the little girl how to cup her hands under the faucet and splash the water in her mouth. "Keep doin' it until your mouth feels clean." Charlotte explains and then goes back to cleaning her mess of a shirt.

At that point, Cooper calls into the ladies room. "Char, Livi, Can one of come here?"

"I'll go." Livi runs out of the bathroom to Cooper.

Cooper hands her a plastic bag. Livi looks inside and finds two neon green t shirts with ponies on them.

"One for you and one for Dr. Joey." Cooper tells her.

"Yay!" Livi says. "Dr. Joey's going to be so happy" She runs to give Charlotte the shirt.

Charlotte takes the shirt and looks at it. "Anything is better than what I got on now." Charlotte and Livi put on their matching neon green t-shirts and walk out of the bathroom to see Cooper. Charlotte raises her eyebrows up at Cooper as he laughs at the pink and purple ponies on her shirt.

"I got it at a little souveinier stand. It's not like I had much of a selection." Cooper chuckles.

"Where's Mr. Bear?!" Livi yells out in a panic.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Cooper asks.

"Dr. Joey was holding him." They look to Charlotte. Livi is starting to cry again.

Charlotte's heart drops to her stomach. "I must have left him on the ride with Mr. Monkey."

"I want Mr. Bear." Livi's crying.

"I'll find him. You girls wait here at the bench." Cooper walks with a fast pace towards the last ride they were on. The one Livi barfed on.

Livi's sobbing now. Charlotte sits on the bench and holds the girl on her lap trying to console her. "Mr. Bear's on the ride. Cooper will find him." Charlotte rubs Livi's back. Livi leans her head on Charlotte's chest

"Mr. Bear must be scared. He's never been alone at a carnival before." Livi sniffles.

"Ya know what I think?" Charlotte asks her.

"What?" Livi looks up.

"I bet he's having himself a good ole' time spinning around on that ride with Mr. Monkey."

"Really?" Livi asks wiping away her tears.

"I know it." Charlotte answers and then gives the little girl a kiss on her forehead. It felt like something that needed to be done. Something Cooper would've done if he was the one holding Livi.

Cooper sneaks up behind them and using a deep throaty bear voice says "Are you looking for me?" He hands Mr. Bear to Livi. Livi gets up and gives Cooper a big hug. Cooper then looks at Charlotte and says in a high pitched monkey voice. "Were you looking for me?" He hands her Mr. Monkey. Charlotte wraps her arms around Cooper and whispers in his ear. Thank you. You'll be rewarded later.

"Oooh. I like that." Cooper pats her bottom. Charlotte slaps his arm.

"Children around." She reminds.

"Can we go on the Merry-Go-Round again?" Livi asks excited.

"One more time and then we're leavin'." Charlotte tells her.

Cooper and Livi climb onto some horses on the ride. Charlotte decides to watch them and take a few pictures while she holds Mr. Bear and Mr. Monkey, tight this time.

The ride starts. Charlotte begins snapping pictures while Cooper and Livi wave each time they pass by. "What a beautiful family you have." An old woman standing next to her comments. Charlotte says "Thank you" rather than explaining who everyone was.

"Enjoy it while you're young dear. Time flies fast." The old woman tells her.

Charlotte smiles at the woman. It feels good playing family with Cooper and Livi.

After, Charlotte and Cooper drop Livi off at home with Jack . They decide to go to Cooper's apartment to relax. It's bittersweet for Charlotte. It's the first time she's been to the apartment since Cooper kicked her out of his life. Charlotte takes off her shoes and heads for the couch. She plops down with her head resting on one armrest and her legs stretched out to the armrest at the other end. "I'm exhausted." She yawns. Cooper walks over to her. Charlotte tells him "She barfed all over me." Charlotte bursts out laughing. "Hee, hee, giggle, snort,snort." It's an infectious laugh because Cooper starts laughing too. Still laughing Charlotte blurts out 'Then she gives me this bright green shirt to wear with pink and purple ponies on it." Charlotte starts laughing harder. Cooper drops down on the couch with her, laughing. After she composes herself Charlotte says. "I'd make a terrible mother. I let her eat that popcorn and throw up. Next, I lose her teddy bear."

"Charlotte, you're going to be a great mom. I saw you on the bench with her. The popcorn was my fault. I talked you into letting her have it. I rushed you off the ride so you forgot the bear. It was me not you."

"You're great with kids." Charlotte tells him.

"You are too, Charlotte." He kisses her nose then says. "I had a great day with you and Livi. I want more days like this."

"Me too." Charlotte agrees. "We'll have to ask Jack to borrow Livi until........." Charlotte stops.

"Finish, Charlotte. Until what? What were you going to say?"

"Uhm......Nothing." Charlotte answers.

"Tell me." Cooper says "Or else, I'll tickle it out of you." Cooper starts tickling her feet.

"I don't want to tell you." Charlotte giggles as he tickles her toes

"You were going to say until we had kids of our own. Weren't you?" Cooper's tickling her belly now. Charlotte laughs and he tickles her harder. "I'm not going to stop until you tell me."

"Okay okay." Charlotte's still laughing. "Yes. Until we have our own kids."

Cooper stops tickling her. "Aha. I thought so." He leans into her and presses his lips into hers. He lets go, he raises his eyebrows and asks. "When can we start?"

"Not tonight." Charlotte answers. "But we can practice."

"Good." Cooper says as he starts to kiss her again.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Cooper knocks on Violet's door. "Is Charlotte home?"

"She just went to the drug store." Violet opens the door. "Come in and wait."

"I'll make it quick then. I want to talk to you." Cooper steps inside.

"About what?"

"Charlotte. Do you think she would marry me?"

"Ask HER." Violet hugs him. "Ask her."

"I can't………. I mean not yet……..Violet…..What if she says no?"

"She's not going to say no, Cooper." Violet reassures him.

"She could after the things I said when we broke up. I told you it was bad. But after the carnival, she was talking about us having kids so I think she might marry me…...I don't know." Cooper's rambling.

Violet stops him. "The only way to find out, Coop, is to ask."

"I can't risk her saying no. It'll crush me." Cooper sits on the couch.

Violet sits next to him. "Can I help?" She pats his shoulder.

"You can ask her for me?" Cooper answers.

"What? Cooper that's your job!" Violet wrinkles her brow at him.

"I mean find out from her if she wants to marry me. Then tell me what she says."

"I don't know, Coop."

"Come on Vi. You're my best friend. I'd do it for you" Cooper begs.

"Fine. I'll do it." Violet answers reluctantly.

"Okay. I'm going to go before she gets back. Do it tonight." Cooper hugs Violet. Before he leaves he turns and reminds her. "If she says yes, find out what kind of ring she wants. I want to surprise her."

Charlotte comes in the door with a little bag from the drug store. "Was Cooper just here? I though I passed him on the road."

Violet doesn't answer. "You know what I could go for tonight?" Violet asks.

"Are we playing twenty questions?" Charlotte jokes a little snarky.

"One of your martini's." Violet answers.

"Okay." Charlotte drops her bag on the table and starts preparing the drink.

"You don't have to drop everything and do it now."

"You let me move in here for my martini's. If you want a martini, you'll get a martini." Charlotte shakes the alcohol.

"Charlotte. You're paying half the expenses. Martini's are optional not mandatory." Violet explains.

"Good to know." Charlotte cracks her a smile.

Charlotte hands Violet her drink and then pours one for herself. They sit on the couch. Violet gets right to the point. "Would you ever consider getting married again?"

"Where'd that come from?" Charlotte sips her drink.

"I was just thinking about you and Coop. That's all."

"I sold my condo and gave everything up for him. I started working at the practice so I could be close to him. Hell yeah, I was gonna' marry that man."

"Would you still marry him after everything he said to you?"

"He told you about that?" Charlotte asks sipping her martini.

"He told me he said some real bad stuff. He didn't tell me what he said. Coop tells me everything except about you. He keeps you private." Violet sips her drink.

"That's good. He should keep me private." Charlotte raises her voice. "How'd you like it if I knew everything that was going on with you and Pete?"

"That'd be great because then you could tell me what was going on with me and Pete. I sure have no idea." They both laugh.

"Seriously, Charlotte would you still want to marry him?"

"Yes." Charlotte tells her bluntly.

"You don't hold it against him, the stuff he said?" Violet tries to get info.

"I walked in Cooper's shoes once. I know how it feels to be the one to say the bad stuff."

"Are you talking about your ex-husband?" Violet finishes her drink.

"He did something." Charlotte's voice is serious. "I was hurt and I said some very mean things to him. He begged me to forgive him over and over again but I wouldn't. Now, I know how it feels to be him." Charlotte finishes her drink and gets up to pour another.

"So you're willing to give Cooper another chance?" Violet asks.

Charlotte hands her a refill. "Everyone deserves another chance."

"What about your ex? Would you give him another chance?" Violet sips her new drink.

"I should've but I was young and stubborn and I didn't. That ship has sailed now. I'm with Cooper." Charlotte takes a deep breath.

"So you would be willing to marry Cooper now?" Violet wants to be sure.

"Yes, if he'd ever get around to askin'."

"Good." Violet answers.

Charlotte holds her stomach. "I need my pills." She gets up and takes a bottle out of the little white bag and pops two pills."

"You really should have some tests done." Violet lectures her.

"You sound like Cooper." Charlotte swallows the pills down with her martini.

"You shouldn't keep ignoring it."

If you're gonna' lecture me, I'm leaving." Charlotte snaps.

"Okay. I'll change the subject." Violet volunteers. "What kind of ring do you like?" Violet asks.

"What?" Charlotte looks at her with her brow furrowed.

"You know rings. Do you like gold or white gold or silver and what shape round? oval? marquis? Do you like diamonds on the side?

"Violet Turner? Are you proposing to me?" They both chuckle.

"Tell Cooper I like anything he picks out for me." She shoots Violet a smile


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Cooper walks into Violet's office. It's early. The staff is just arriving. "Good Morning. Did you ask her?" Cooper's in a good mood.

"How are you too?" Violet looks up from her papers gives a small smile and asks.

"Sorry, How are you? " Cooper corrects himself.

"I'm good . Yes I asked." She smiles.

"Well?" Cooper's smiling, he knows it's good news.

"The answer is YES!!!" Violet tells with excitement.

Cooper's grinning from ear to ear. "Did you ask her what kind of ring she wants?"

"She said she'll be happy with anything you pick for her."

"She knows? You told her I asked you to find out?" Cooper changes his expression.

"I didn't tell her. She figured it out. They don't pay her to be chief of staff for nothing."

"Oh" Cooper sighs. "Where is she? I looked in her office and the break room, but she wasn't there."

"Try the bathroom. I saw her go in about fifteen minutes ago. She was holding her stomach again." Violet goes back to looking at her charts.

"Okay." Cooper heads for the bathroom. He opens the door and calls. "Charlotte? Are you in there?"

Charlotte is sitting in the third stall leaning against the wall. Her knees are bent up to her chest. She's resting her head on her knees with her hands wrapped tightly around her legs. Her eyes are closed. "I'll be out in a few minutes Cooper." Her voice is tired.

Cooper walks in. He finds her in the third stall. The door is open. It's early and no one else has been in the bathroom yet. "Are you okay?"

Charlotte opens her eyes and looks up at him. "I'll be fine. Just give me a few minutes."

Cooper can tell she had vomited. He goes to the sink and wets some paper towels. He walks back to Charlotte and hands her the paper towels. Cooper leans over to flush the toilet and gasps. "Charlotte. Do you know you're vomiting blood?"

"I am not." Charlotte tries to snap at him but it comes out weak.

"Yes. You are Charlotte. There's blood in your vomit. I'm taking you to the hospital. No more excuses. You're going."

"I can't."

"Why not?" Cooper asks gently.

"I run the place. I don't need my staff knowing all my damn business. That place is like a telephone chain game. If I go in for tests everyone will be talkin' including the housekeepers."

"St. Ambrose isn't the only hospital around. I'll take you anywhere you want."

Charlotte looks at him wither face crinkled. "That'd be like owning a car dealership and then you go and buy your car from another dealer. I can't do that either."

"Charlotte. You're impossible. No wonder you have an ulcer." Cooper slides down the wall of the bathroom stall and sits down beside her. "I'm taking you to the hospital. Pick a hospital now or else I'll do it for you."

"Fine!" Charlotte manages to snap it out this time. "I'll go to St. Ambrose but I want it kept quiet. Just minimal staff in the room for my test."

"Good. Let's go now." Cooper helps her to a standing position.

Charlotte leans against the wall of the stall. "My head feels bad." She holds her hand to her head and then collapses into Cooper's arms.

"Charlotte, Charlotte. Are you alright?" Cooper lifts her into his arms and carries her out of the bathroom.

Violet runs out of her office. "What happened?"

"She passed out." Cooper rushes her into a treatment room. Addison and Sam come running in, after Violet tells them what's happening.

"What's going on Coop?" Sam puts the stethoscope to Charlotte's chest and she opens her eyes.

"She passed out. She's been vomiting blood. I think it might be a peptic ulcer."

Addison puts an oxygen mask on Charlotte's face. Charlotte tries to push it away. "I don't need it. " She mumbles weakly."

"Just wear it. It'll help you." Addison says sternly and offers a smile after.

"How long has this been going on?" Sam asks as he examines Charlotte for signs of dehydration.

"I don't know. Maybe a couple months." Cooper answers. "Since we broke up."

"She looks anemic. Let's draw some labs. Call the hospital to set up for an emergency endoscopy."

Charlotte looks up at Cooper. Cooper is holding her hand. Her grip is weak. She can see the fear in his eyes. She's too weak to argue with anyone right now. She'll trust Cooper to take care of things for her.

Please be kind and review. Thanks.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Cooper's reading his newspaper. He'sitting at Charlotte's bedside, he notices her start to stir. Cooper jumps up immediately and grabs her hand. Charlotte slowly opens her eyes which still have a dazed look to them. "Hey sleepyhead, it's about time you opened your eyes." Charlotte tries to speak but she grabs for her throat. "Don't talk" Cooper instructs. "You had the endoscopy tube down there for a while. Dr. Gibbon's found a small ulcer and it was bleeding just a little bit, but he was able to stop the bleeding. They took care of it all by endoscopy. They had to heavily sedate you. Charlotte nods her head. She understands since the procedure was all explained to her before they started. "You're going to have to stay in the hospital a couple of days to observe you for more bleeding. It's okay, I lined up the best nurses for you and instructed them all, absolutely no sponge bath's." Charlotte gives him a weak smile. "If you start to smell, I'll sponge you down."

"Oooow. Damn it." Charlotte cries as she accidentally yanks her IV trying to smack Cooper.

"Be careful Char." Cooper grabs her arm and readjusts the IV.

"I'm sorry." She says as she watches him fix the IV.

"Nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one that's sorry." Cooper tells her.

"For what?" Charlotte asks in a weak scratchy voice.

"For treating you so bad and giving you this ulcer."

"You didn't give it to me Coop." Charlotte's voice is still weak as she rests her head back down on the pillow.

"You started having symptoms after we broke up. You couldn't stop thinking about the stuff I said."

"Yeah" she answers and her voice still soft and scratchy tells him "You're not the only one I was thinking about."

"I don't understand." Cooper's not sure she knows what she's saying. He could see she's still very groggy from the anesthesia.

"I've been thinking about my marriage a lot. We broke up because I neglected to tell you about it." Charlotte's eyes are staring at the lights on the ceiling. She notices one keeps flickering. "Remind me to put a work order in to have that fixed."

Cooper looks up at the flickering light. "I'll do it when I leave."

"Don't leave Coop" Charlotte looks at him.

"I'll stay until you go back to sleep. Okay?" He rubs his hand along her hair line and she closes her eyes. Cooper's surprised when she starts talking again. Her voice is very groggy.

"I can't stop thinking about how I left him. He begged me……..not to leave."

"Who?" Cooper asks.

"Mark" She answers in a groggy voice.

"Who's Mark?"

"You know Mark….. my ex husband." Charlotte answers with her eyes still closed.

"I never met Mark." Cooper answers, still gently rubbing her head.

"Oh, I need to introduce you to him." Charlotte's voice is drifting off and Cooper isn't sure if she's asleep or awake. He answers her anyway.

"I thought you don't talk to him anymore." Cooper waits for a reaction.

Charlotte opens her eyes. "Who? Talk to who anymore?"

"You want to introduce me to Mark. I thought you don't talk to him anymore."

"I don't" she answers "But I've been thinking about him lately."

"Why?" asks Cooper

"I think I need to apologize to him." Charlotte looks up at the flickering light again.

"Apologize for what?" Cooper asks looking at the light himself.

"I treated him bad before I left. I treated him like you treated me, when we broke up." Charlotte's talking just above a whisper.

"Why did you treat him bad?" Cooper begins to wonder if he shouldn't be asking Charlotte these questions. He knows she's under the influence of anesthesia. She might not want him to know this stuff if she was clear.

"He did a very bad thing." She answers still looking at the light.

Cooper decides not to encourage her so he just says "Oh".

"He got someone else pregnant, while he was married to me." Charlotte tells.

"Oh!" Cooper answers surprised. Now he feels like they shouldn't be having this conversation while Charlotte's out of it. He tries to change the subject. "I have a surprise for you."

"What?" Charlotte shifts her gaze to him.

Cooper doesn't want to tell her about the engagement but he figures she won't remember tomorrow anyway. "I'm going to pop the question when you come home from the hospital."

"I know." Charlotte answers. "Violet told me."

"Yeah, that's okay because you don't know about the ring yet." Cooper answers.

"Did you buy me a ring?" Charlotte asks still groggy.

"I picked one out and it's a beauty." He smiles at her. Charlotte smiles back.

I can't wait to be your wife Cooper." She says softly.

Now Cooper knows Charlotte is still under the influence of anesthesia. She never talks so gooey, but Cooper figures he'll take advantage of it while it lasts. "And I can't wait to be your husband?" He gives her a sly smile. "So Charlotte how many kids do you want?" Cooper's having fun playing with a sedated Charlotte's mind.

"Two or three?" She answers, her eyes closing again.

"Really? I think we should get started right after we get married." He chuckles.

"Uhm hmm." Charlotte answers weakly.

"I wish I had a contract for you to sign now" Cooper smiles.

"Why?" Charlotte asks.

"Because I don't know if I'll get the same answers in the morning when you're awake."

"I'm awake," She tells him.

"You are, but you aren't." Cooper smiles at her. "But I love you this way."

"I love you too, Cooper." Charlotte opens her eyes this time.

Cooper gazes into them in sheer bliss. That's one thing Charlotte has a hard time saying. Cooper knows she loves him but it's great to hear it coming from her lips. "We need to give you anesthesia more often." Cooper chuckles to himself and hops up on the bed along side her. "Get some rest. We'll talk in the morning." Cooper lies next to her, rubbing her head as he admires his future wife.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Cooper's dressed in a shirt and tie. He's boiling water in Violet's kitchen, when she comes in the room. Violet's dressed up to go out with Pete. "What are you doing in my kitchen Coop?" Violet looks around at the grocery bags on her counter.

"I'm making a special dinner for Charlotte. I'm gonna propose tonight." Cooper squeezes a lemon into the pot of boiling water.

"Wow Coop!" Violet gives her best friend a hug. "Uhm Cooper? Why does it look like that bag over there is moving?" Violet has her eyes fixed on a white plastic bag near her stove.

"Oh yeah." Cooper chuckles. "I'm cooking lobster."

"Live lobsters?" Violet backs up a little.

"Yup. I'm surprising Charlotte." Cooper boasts.

"Did you ever cook live lobster before?"

"No. The guy in the seafood store said it's easy. You just cut off the rubber bands and drop them in boiling water." Cooper takes the first lobster out of the bag and attempts to cut the rubber band. The lobster move it's leg and Violet screams. Cooper jumps. "Geez Vi." He drops the lobster back on the counter . The lobster's moving. Violet screams again.

"What the hell?" Charlotte bursts into the kitchen and sees the lobster moving on the counter. She looks at Cooper.

"It's dinner. Surprise!" Cooper looks at her as he tries to pick up the lobster.

"Let me do it." Charlotte grabs the lobster and drops it head first into the boiling water.

"There's another one in the bag." Cooper tells her.

"Hold your hand over the cover of the pot. Keep it closed tight." Charlotte tells him as she takes the other lobster out of the bag and cuts the rubber bands quickly. "Open the cover quick." She tells Cooper and drops the other lobster in the pot.

Violet's watching. "Looks like you've done this before?"

"I have." Charlotte tells her. "Keep your hand on the cover of the pot until you're sure they're not moving anymore Coop."

"Obviously you've done this before." Cooper feels foolish.

"Yup" Charlotte answers. "Did you make lemon butter yet?"

"No." Cooper answers still holding his hand on the cover of the pot. I've got potatos in the oven and a big salad in the fridge."

"I'll make the lemon butter." Charlotte puts some butter in a small pot on the stove.

"I didn't know you cook Charlotte?" Violet says. The doorbell rings. "There's Pete. I gotta go. You kids have fun tonight." Violet hurries to get to the door.

"So, where'd you learn to cook live lobster?" Cooper asks.

"You don't want to know." Charlotte answers, stirring the butter so it doesn't burn.

"I wanna know. Tell me." Cooper insists.

"My ex. " Charlotte sighs.

"You mean Mark?" Cooper says. "Can I let go of the pot now? They seem quiet."

Charlotte just stares at Cooper with a perplexed look. How does Cooper know Mark's name? She's sure she never told him about Mark. "You could let go of the pot. Get me some lemon juice from the fridge."

Cooper does as told and asks. "So, Mark taught you to cook live lobster?"

"Yeah." Charlotte wrinkles her brow and takes the lemon juice from him.

Cooper notices the baffled look and tells her. "You were talking about Mark in the hospital, as you came out of the sedation."

Charlotte pours some lemon juice into the butter mixture. "What'd I say?" She looks at Cooper suspiciously.

"That you wanted to apologize to him for being ...…..well...….mean." Cooper smiles with one side of his mouth turned up, waiting for her response.

"Is that all I said?" Charlotte feels her heart beating faster.

"I tried to get you to stop talking. Really Charlotte, I did. I tried to change the subject."

"What'd I say? Just tell me!" Charlotte raises her voice.

"You said he got another woman pregnant and that's why you left. That's all you said. I changed the subject after that."

Charlotte takes a deep breath and sighs.

"It's okay." Cooper puts his hand on her shoulder as she stirs the butter. "You don't have to talk about it."

"Here. You stir the butter. I'll chop the garlic." Charlotte takes a chopping knife from the drawer and begins to chop hard and fast.

"Be careful Char. Don't cut yourself." Cooper cringes as he watches.

"He says it wasn't his kid, that she was lyin'." Charlotte vigorously chops away at the little cloves of garlic.

"I take it you didn't believe him?" Cooper watches her, as he bites his lip.

"Didn't matter. He admitted sleepin' with her. Could've been his kid. Maybe. Maybe not. Bottom line is he slept with her." Charlotte scrapes up the chopped garlic and drops it into the melted butter mixture.

"Who was she?" Cooper asks.

"Someone we went to medical school with." Charlotte starts chopping more garlic. "We were residents, but we still got together with our friends from medical school whenever we could. I was workin' the night shift that rotation. She came over. Her name was Gina. Gina always brought stuff to smoke."

"You're not talking about cigarettes?"

"No. Not cigarettes. Mark told me that she brought some funny stuff to smoke. Not the regular stuff. He didn't notice until he smoked some. They all smoked it together. Then Mark and Gina went out to the hot tub alone. This happened on a couple of occasions, apparently while I was doin' my night rotation." Charlotte's still chopping away at the garlic.

"Charlotte, we have enough garlic. You could stop chopping." Cooper tries to take the knife away. "So, none of your friends told you what was going on with Mark and this girl?"

Charlotte holds on tight to the knife and keeps chopping. "Wanna guess why they're not my friends anymore?"

"Gotcha" Cooper responds and frowns

"Then she announces one day she's pregnant. My friend Amy told me about them sleeping together and Gina's going around tellin' everyone it's Mark's kid."

"Not Good." Cooper puts his hand over her hand. "We have enough garlic Charlotte. Stop chopping." He wraps his arms around her.

"I could've killed him." Charlotte tells. "He denied it was his kid.... He said she set him up..... that she was already pregnant ......that she made sure all our friends knew they slept together so they would think it was his."

"Why would she do that?" Cooper asks still holding Charlotte. Charlotte pulls away. "According to Mark she was sleeping with one of the attending doctor's. A married attending doctor. That doctor would sink deep in his own dirt if they found out he slept with her, so she made it look like it was Mark's. That's his story anyway."

"Do you believe him?"

"Like I said before..... It doesn't matter. ...He slept with her...... That was it. .....We were over after that...... I called him every bad name I could think of. ......I said every mean thing I could think of and then walked out on him. ....No turnin' back, ever."

Cooper tries to hug her. She pulls away. Charlotte reaches into the lobster pot with tongs. She pulls off one of the lobsters legs. "The lobsters are done."

"Great" They pull the lobsters out of the pot and bring them to the table with the rest of the food Cooper had prepared earlier. They're both quiet. Charlotte notices the bouquet of roses on the table. Cooper pulls out a bottle of champagne. They both sit at the table.

"Ready to dig in?" Charlotte looks at him and starts to break open the lobster shell.

Cooper pours them each a glass of champagne. He hands Charlotte her glass.

"Charlotte, look at me." Charlotte looks up into his eyes. Cooper begins "Charlotte King….. .I love you…. Will you spend the rest of your life with me? ……. Be my wife.....please?" Cooper looks hopeful into her bright eyes that are starting to form tears and pulls out a small box. He opens the box which holds a sparkling diamond ring.

"Yes." Charlotte says as she sniffles. "Yes, Cooper Freedman, I'll marry you."

Cooper gently guides the ring onto her finger. His hand is shaky.

"You're nervous?" Charlotte smiles. Cooper kisses the ring on her finger.

"Are you kidding? I'm sweating bullets" He answers.

"Why? You knew I'd say yes." Charlotte's beaming.

"You're important to me Charlotte. This moment is important to me. I'm a little nervous."

"Get over here!" She orders him. Cooper does as told. She grabs his tie and pulls him down so their foreheads are touching. She presses her lips into his. She kisses him and it's intense. It'a a long kiss and she's not letting go, he could feel her emotions pouring out in this connection. They finally come up for air and Cooper feels like he might need a cool shower before eating. She lets go of his tie. "I love you Cooper." He looks at her with raised eyebrows. He's aware this is something she has a hard time saying. "Now let's eat. These lobsters gave their lives for our celebration."

Cooper sits back down in his seat. He raises his glass and Charlotte does the same. Cooper toasts. "To us. To a long and happy life with lots of love, and lots of laughter." He chuckles and adds "And lots of babies." They clink glasses and Charlotte smiles before sipping the champagne.

.


	15. Chapter 15

K.C. - We're not done with Charlotte's Ulcer yet. It's going to come up again in a future chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Chapter 15

Cooper's sitting on Violet's couch, waiting for Charlotte to come home. He's looking at his watch. "She'll be home any minute Coop." Violet says as she folds laundry.

"I was looking forward to having a relaxing evening with her, not babysitting."

"She's not babysitting. Jack just asked her to take Livi out shopping for a summer wardrobe. They should be back any minute."

The front door swings open. Livi rushes in holding Mr. Bear. Charlotte's got her arms full of shopping bags. She drops the bags on the table and drops her body down on the couch next to Cooper. "I'm beat."

"You look beat. You need to take it easy. You've only been out of the hospital a week. Are you taking you're medicine?"" Cooper gives her a little peck on the tip of her nose, which earns him a smile.

"Yes, Cooper. Stop worrying about me." Charlotte touches his nose with her fingertip affectionately.

"Look what Doc Joey got me!" Livi pulls out a sparkly pair of flip-flops and another pair of white sandles. "And look what else, two sundresses and a new bathing suit and shorts." The little red headed girl is pulling all the new clothing out of the bag. "Can I try it on Dr. Joey?"

"Yeah sure." Charlotte answers as she rests on the couch.

"Why don't I help you take these bags of clothes upstairs. You can try them on. Let Doc Joey get some rest. Okay?" Violet puts the clothes back into the bags and ushers Livi upstairs.

After they're out of earshot Cooper asks "Why did you buy her all that stuff?"

"I didn't buy it for her. Jack gave me money. She outgrew all her stuff from last year. She needed new clothes and he hates shopping."

"Why you? You just got out of the hopital last week. Why couldn't he ask someone else to take her?" Cooper's sounding a little jealous.

"She asked for me Coop. How could I say no? Besides I got a little surprise for you too."

"What? What'd you get me?" Cooper's smiling now.

"It's in the car. I'll try it on for you later." She tells him as she runs her hand down the front of his shirt

"Oooh that kind of a surprise. I like that." He leans his body into her and goes to kiss her.

Charlotte puts her hand up to stop him. "Not now. Later. Violet and Livi are upstairs. They could come down any minute."

"Okay." Cooper moves back to his spot on the couch and sulks a little.

"Thought you'd be proud of me Coop? I spent the entire afternoon with a seven year old and survived it. Didn't even lose Mr. Bear this time."

"I am proud of you. But you look exhausted. I don't think you should've been running around the mall all afternoon so soon after your procedure. You still need rest."

"I'm fine." Charlotte says as she flicks off her sandles and lifts her legs on the couch so they're resting on Cooper's lap. "Yuck." She says.

"What's yuck?" Cooper raises an eyebrow at her.

"My nailpolish is flaking off my toes. I hate when it gets like that. I need to paint them."

"I'll get the nail polish. Where is it?" Cooper lifts himself off the couch.

"In my bathroom. In the cabinet under the mirror. Bring a few bottles down."

Cooper heads upstairs to the bathroom as Violet and Livi are on their way downstairs. Violet's carrying the shopping bags. "I told Livi I would take her to see Lucas and treat them out to ice cream. Is that okay Charlotte?"

"Sure. It sounds good. I'll tell Jack she's with you. Give me a hug kiddo." Livi comes over. Charlotte hugs her and hands her Mr. Bear who's sitting on the couch.

"Thanks Doc. Joey. I had a good time." The little red head leaves with Violet. Cooper comes downstairs with a handful of nail polish bottles, a bottle of acetone and cotton balls.

"Look at that. You came prepared." Charlotte teases him.

"I'm a doctor, Charlotte." Cooper squirts some acetone on a cotton ball. He sits on the couch with Charlotte's feet on his lap and begins wiping her big toe with the cotton ball.

"Wow" Charlotte says. "I'm getting the royal treatment." She watches Cooper carefully remove the old layers of flaking nail polish.

"Let's talk about our wedding." Cooper says as he moves on to the next toe. "I was thinking we should have a big wedding, invite all our family and friends. I want everyone I know to see you walk down that aisle."

"I can do that." Charlotte answers him. She remembers the time they talked about it after big daddy died and how she told Cooper she couldn't do that. She couldn't handle the big white wedding. Now she was ready. If Cooper wanted a big white wedding she would do it for him. She didn't really need it. A small wedding with a few close friends and family would be fine for her.

"Good. I was thinking about asking my cousin to be my best man, then my old friend, Dennis, from college and Pete and Sam to be ushers." Cooper's talking fast, he's excited. "How about you? You could ask Violet to be your maid of honor and maybe Addison and Naomi to be bridesmaids."

Charlotte's face drops. "Cooper, I work with Addison but she's not that close a friend and Naomi….well I've only recently started speaking to her again, since she took my job at Pacific Well Care. I can't ask them."

"Then who will you ask? You need to have bridesmaids." Cooper's still wiping away the old nail polish.

"I've been thinking about that, especially at night when I'm trying to sleep."

"Oh no." Cooper says. "I don't want you to worry about the wedding. You're still healing."

"I'm alright Coop." She smiles at him. She thinks it's sweet but a little neurotic the way he worries about her lately. "I was going to ask Violet to be a bridesmaid and Landry's wife, Natalie. We used to be close before I moved to LA. I was her maid of honor at their wedding. Then _my_ cousin, Summer, we grew up together. She lived down the street from me."

"You have a cousin named Summer?" Cooper smirks.

"Yeah so. What's wrong with that?" Charlotte waits for an answer.

"Are her brother's Fall and Winter?" Cooper chuckles as he finishes with her toes. "Pick out which color you want?"

"Are you making fun of my family Cooper? You haven't even met them yet." Charlotte scolds as she points to a bottle of crimson nail polish.

"Just teasing. Which one's going to be the maid of honor?" Cooper shakes the small bottle and unscrews the cap.

"I was thinking about askin' Amy. She was my college roommate. We went to med school together. We did our residency together. She was my one and only best friend." Charlotte sighs.

"Isn't Amy the one who told you about Mark and that girl. What's her name?"

"Gina.... Her name's Gina..... And yes Amy's the one who told me about them........finally... and I gave her hell for it...... I didn't speak to her after that."

"But you're in a forgiving mood?" Cooper looks up at her as he gently brushes on the nail polish.

"I miss her. ....I want her to know I'm happy and that I'm getting married again. .....I want her to meet you and you to meet her."

"So call her." Cooper glances up at her.

"She's likely to hang up on me? It's been a long time."

"Then you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by calling her." Cooper's polishing her toe nails diligently.

"It's just awkward. I mean what do I say? Sorry I haven't called you in years....."

Cooper interrupts. "That's exactly what you should say." Speaking of awkward, I think you should meet my parents and I should meet your family before the wedding."

Charlotte bites her lower lip. " Maybe we could elope."

"Chaaaaar..lotte" Cooper stretches out her name. We're gonna do this right. We're going to meet each other's families and it's going to be fine."

Charlotte takes a deep breath and sighs to herself. "Okay." She tells Cooper. "I can do this." It sounds more like she's trying to convince herself.

"You'll be fine. I'll hold your hand." He looks up and gives her a reassuring smile as he finishes painting her last toenail.

She smiles back at him and thinks she is very lucky to be marrying this man.

**So what do y'all think? I plan on having some fun with this story over the hiatus. If there is something you would like to see happen, shoot me a message or leave it in a review. **


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Charlotte and Cooper buckle their seat belts in preparation for landing at the airport in Akron Ohio. Livi's sleeping, clutching Mr. Bear. The flight attendant's walking down the aisle checking the seat belts. "Your daughter looks so sweet sleeping." The flight attendant tells Cooper.

Cooper looks up smiles and says "Thank you." He looks over at Charlotte and explains. "It's not worth telling why she's traveling with us." Charlotte just looks at him; It's not like she hasn't done the same thing before. It's kind of fun pretending they're a family.

"Do you think we should wake her now? We're about to land." Charlotte nudges Cooper

"Yeah. She's going to be so excited to see her grandmother. Did I tell you my cousin Ben is meeting us at the gate? My parents don't like to drive at night anymore." Cooper's gently shaking Livi to wake her.

"You told me three times already." Charlotte isn't sure who's more nervous about her meeting his parents. It seems like maybe Cooper is, and that's making her nervous.

They exit the gate. Livi spots her grandmother and runs to her. "Thank you for letting her fly with you," The older woman shakes their hands. Cooper and Charlotte hug Livi goodbye. "We'll see you back in L.A., Peanut." Cooper says. Livi will travel back to LA with her grandma. Cooper and Charlotte are headed to Alabama next. They plan on spending the weekend with Cooper's family in Akron before flying to Alabama on Monday.

Cooper looks around and spots Ben waving in the crowd. "There he is. There's my cousin." He points out a short, balding gentleman to Charlotte. Ben makes his way through the crowd to meet them.

"Hey" Ben and Cooper greet each other and hug at the same time. "This is my fiancée, Charlotte" Cooper wraps his arm around Charlotte. Charlotte holds out her hand and they shake.

"It's nice to meet you." Charlotte greets.

"Welcome to Ohio and welcome to the Freedman family. Let's go find your luggage." After collecting the bags and driving half an hour they pull into a driveway.

"Here we are." Cooper announces "Home sweet home." It's dark but there are enough outdoor lights on that Charlotte could make out a well kept ranch style house. The front lawn looks well maintained from what she can see.

"Is this the house you grew up in?" She asks Cooper.

"It is. These were my stomping grounds." He tells Charlotte as they get out of the car.

"I'll grab your luggage out of the trunk." Ben volunteers. "Oh one thing. Your Mom wants you to stay in separate bedrooms." Ben sighs.

"That's okay." Cooper says and he glances at Charlotte to see her reaction. Truth be told Cooper has no desire to have sex with Charlotte in his parents house. He recalls the time he was home on spring break from medical school. He met up with his high school girlfriend, Cheryl Tyler. They forgot to lock the door and his mother walked in on them at the wrong moment. He still could hear his mother gasp and slam the door closed. Cooper couldn't look at his mother for the rest of the week. He went back to school a few days early, he was so humiliated. Cooper was glad that he and Charlotte would be in separate rooms. He wouldn't want to face the temptation with his parents in the house.

Cooper opens the front door and walks in. Charlotte follows right behind him, her heart racing. "Hello. We're here." Cooper calls out. His father's sitting on the couch watching television. The TV's loud. The older gentleman turns his head and notices them. He slowly gets up from the couch, making a grunting sound as he does. Charlotte's surprised. She didn't expect Cooper's parents to be so old. She does some quick calculating in her head. Cooper's parents had another son before Cooper, who died when he was ten. If they had him in their twenties, he would have died while they were in their thirties. They adopted Cooper a few years later, so they must have been close to forty when they adopted him. Cooper's forty now, so that would make his parents be close to eighty, at least. This man looked to be about eighty.

"Hello." The grey haired, slight gentleman said as he walked stiffly toward them.

"Hello Dad." Cooper shakes hands with his father. Cooper's surprised at how much his father aged. He makes the ritualistic Sunday evening call each week and they both always sound fine. He hasn't been back to Ohio to visit them in about four years and he notices the change. "This is my fiancé, Charlotte."

Charlotte extends her hand out. Her palms are sweaty "Nice to meet you." She says as she shakes.

"Glad to finally meet you too, dear. Coopster's told us all about you." Charlotte notices he's missing his teeth and thinks maybe that's why he said Coopster instead of Cooper. "Come inside and sit down." He leads Charlotte and Cooper into the living room. "Sweetie." He calls out. "Coopster and Charlotte are here."

"I'll be right out." A woman's voice yells out from the kitchen. Charlotte and Cooper sit down in the two arm chairs, while Mr. Freedman sits back on the couch.

"Can we turn down the TV Dad? It's loud." Cooper grabs the remote and lowers the volume.

Mrs. Freedman comes out of the kitchen. She's a bulky woman. She looks to be a few years younger than Mr. Freedman and not nearly as frail. She's carrying a tray with petite sandwiches and cream puffs. Cooper grabs a cream puff and stuffs it in his mouth. "Mom I want you to meet, Charlotte King, my fiancé." Mrs. Freedman first addresses Cooper. "Where are your manners Coopster? You know not to speak with your mouth full." She places the tray down on the coffee table and gives Cooper a big hug and kiss. She then turns her attention to Charlotte. "How are you dear? Cooper says you haven't been well." She gives Charlotte a big hug and kiss as well.

"It's nice to meet you." Charlotte greets as she returns the hug. "I'm feeling much better."

"Sit down, honey. Have a sandwich. You must be starving." Mrs. Freedman holds the tray right in front of Charlotte.

Charlotte grabs a petite sandwich to be polite and begins to eat it. Cooper grabs another cream puff. Mrs. Freedman slaps his wrist. "Put that down. You must have a sandwich before you eat another cream puff. Look at Charlotte. She's a good girl."

Cooper and Charlotte exchange glances. They were both thinking that if his mother knew how they met she wouldn't think Charlotte is such a good girl anymore.

"How is your sandwich dear?" Mrs. Freedman asks noticing Charlotte's taking very small bites.

"It's fine." Charlotte answers. "I just have to be careful about eating since my procedure."

"You poor thing. Tell me. How did you two meet?" Mrs. Freedman asks, as she grabs a cream puff.

"We met on a blind date." Cooper tells his mother. It was sort of a blind date he thinks to himself. They met blindly at the bar, so he wasn't actually lying to his mother.

"Your father and I met on a blind date also. Isn't that funny?" She smiles at Charlotte.

"Coopster tells us you're a doctor. Which field are you in?" Mrs. Freedman asks as she grabs another cream puff. Charlotte has to bite her lip this time. There's that Coopster again. This time his mother is saying it and it just sounds so funny.

Cooper answers "She's Chief of Staff of a hospital." He doesn't bother to tell about her job as a sexologist.

"Oh my! That sounds like a very important job." Mrs. Freedman's looks at Charlotte and notices her future daughter-in-law has just spotted her husband's teeth in a bowl on the table. "Martin Freedman. How could you leave your teeth out like that? We have guests." She scolds him.

"What guests? It's Coopster and his girl, Charlotte."

"We just met Charlotte. You can't take your teeth out in front of her. Put them back in now."

"Why? She's a doctor. I'm sure she's seen a lot worse than my teeth." He answers back.

"It's okay. I don't mind." Charlotte interrupts.

Ben walks in the living room and grabs a sandwich. "I put your luggage in the two spare bedrooms down the hall."

"That's right." Mrs. Freedman interrupts. "I don't know what you kids do at home, but no hanky panky under my roof, Coopster." Mrs. Freedman looks at Cooper and he blushes. Charlotte's doing everything she can to keep from letting a giggle out.

Ben looks at Charlotte and chuckles. "You're all invited to my house tomorrow. Maureen can't wait to meet you, Charlotte. It's going to be casual. We're having a barbeque. We invited Livi and her grandmother. Oh and Cooper your friend Dennis and his wife and kids are going to be able to make it after all."

"Great." Cooper says. "I want Charlotte to meet them."

"We'll see you then. Nice meeting you again Charlotte." Ben says as he heads out the door.

"It's almost eleven. It's way past our bedtime. Daddy and I are going to bed, Coopster. You kids behave yourself and we'll talk more with Charlotte in the morning." Mrs. Freedman gives them each a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight." Mr. Freedman says as he slowly rises from the couch and makes his way down the hall.

"Good night." Cooper and Charlotte both call out to him.

Cooper moves to the couch and pats the pillow next to him, indicating for Charlotte to sit there. Charlotte gets up and sits down next to Cooper on the couch. "So, what's the verdict? What do you think of my parents?"

"They're very cute, Coopster." She laughs this time. Cooper isn't sure if he should scold her. He doesn't like her making fun of him, but on the other hand he loves seeing her laugh.

"That was my nickname ever since I could walk. I didn't laugh when I found out your nickname was Joey."

That's because Joey isn't funny but Coopster is." Charlotte chuckles.

"Fine, make fun of me if you want." He's just happy that she's happy. He's relieved she's comfortable enough in his parent's house to have a good time. "What do you want to do now?" He asks, wrapping his arm around her.

"Your mother said no hanky panky. We could watch TV." Charlotte picks up the remote and flips through the channels.

"Why do I feel like a teenager again?" Cooper looks at her.

"Because your home. I like being home with you." Charlotte rests her head on Cooper's shoulder, as they find a movie to watch together on TV.

**Thank you to Scarlett 88 for being an awesome Beta!**

**T****hanks to those of you that are reviewing. The traffic feature has not been working, so it's hard to keep tract of how many people are reading this story unless you review.** R**eview if you want the story to continue please.**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 Alabama

Charlotte and Cooper are on a plane again. They're traveling from Cooper's home in Ohio to visit with Charlotte's family in Alabama. "Tell me, what'd you really think of my family?" Cooper asks.

"Your parents are very sweet. Your cousin Ben and his wife seem like nice people. Your friend Dennis is a real character." Charlotte tells. "I'm glad we did this Coop. It's good I got to meet them before the weddin'."

Cooper grabs her hand. "We should see my parents more often."

"We'll see them in a few months at the wedding."

"I know, but after that I think we should fly back and visit them at least once a year. They're getting old." Cooper's sadness isn't lost on Charlotte.

"We'll make time to do that." She squeezes Cooper's hand. "What are you thinkin' about?" Charlotte notices Cooper's just staring at the seat in front of him with his sad puppy eyes that she can't resist.

"I don't know how much longer my father will be around. He aged so much; I don't think he'll be around to see his grandchildren."

"We'll do it soon then." She squeezes Cooper's hand and he looks up at her. She gives him a soft smile. "Are you ready to meet my family?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"You have a head start. You already met Duke and Landry."

"That was right after your father died; I didn't really get to know them."

"Well aren't you in for a treat?" She jokes.

"What'd you tell them about me, Charlotte? You didn't tell them about the fight we had in the conference room? Did you?

"If I did, you wouldn't be alive," she says in her most southern drawl. Cooper looks at her with the sad puppy face. "I'm kiddin', besides you could whoop Landry in a fight. He's little; gosh, I'm taller than Landry with my heels on."

"What about Duke?" Cooper asks.

"Don't worry about Duke; he's a lover, not a fighter." Charlotte likes that Cooper's nervous to meet her family.

The plane lands in Alabama. Charlotte and Cooper walk out of the gate. Charlotte spots her cousin, Summer, waiting for them. "There she is Cooper. That's Summer over there, the blonde talkin' on the cell phone."

Cooper looks up and sees Summer. Summer's hair is long and blonde, with bangs. She reminds him of Charlotte when they were first dating. They walk up to her and she gets off her cell phone.

"Hey cousin, long time no see." Summer says as she hugs Charlotte.

"Meet Cooper. Cooper this is Summer. Summer this is Cooper." They exchange small smiles and shake hands.

"Landry and Natalie are hosting a mint julep social tomorrow at lunch, for your engagement. Duke and his girlfriend will be there and some old friends from the neighborhood are coming and of course Emma will be there."

"Who's Emma?" Cooper interrupts.

"Emma was one of my nanny's when I was small. Now, momma uses her as a housecleaner and cook." Charlotte explains.

"Emma's so excited to see you again. That's all she's been talkin' about." Summer tells as they walk to pick up the baggage.

"How about momma?" Charlotte asks.

"Your momma's, your momma Charlotte. Same ole', same ole'." They spot their bags and pick them up.

After a long drive, they arrive at Charlotte's house in Monroeville. Cooper carries the luggage into the mansion style home. "Man, is this place big?" Cooper puts the suitcases down in the large foyer. "Where should I put the bags."

"You can pick any of the spare rooms you'd like on the second floor." Summer tells him.

"My momma won't care if we share a room." Charlotte tells him. "Put them in the third room on the left, the one with the peach paint. That's my favorite."

"Okay." Cooper says as he carries the bags upstairs.

"So, what do you think?" Charlotte asks her cousin.

"I think that's a gorgeous rock you got on your finger."

"I know." Charlotte holds out her hand and they admire the large round diamond. " I meant what do you think of Cooper?"

"He seams like a nice guy; but so did Mark until he cheated on you."

"Thanks." Charlotte rolls her eyes.

"I hope it works out for you this time." Summer says as they watch Cooper come back down the stairs.

"Did ya' find it alright?" Charlotte asks.

"That bedroom's huge." Cooper replies with excitement in his voice.

"Is that lil' Charlotte Joe?" Emma comes out from the kitchen. Emma's a petite woman of about sixty. She's wearing a baker's apron over a house dress and gives Charlotte a big hug.

"Miss Emma, I'd like you to meet Cooper. Cooper this is Miss Emma." Cooper and Emma shake hands

"Nice to meet ya' Cooper. Welcome to Monroeville." Emma's a bubbly woman. "I'm fixin ya'll a nice dinner for tonight. Pulled pork in barbeque sauce with all the fixin's."

"Sounds great." Charlotte licks her lips. "Where's momma?"

"Your momma's up in her bedroom. She's been popping her head out every thirty minutes or so to ask me if her little girl was here yet?"

"Really?" Charlotte's face lights up. Cooper notices. "I think I'll go up and say hi." Charlotte heads up the steps leaving Cooper with Summer and Emma.

"If you don't mind, I have work to tend to in the kitchen" Emma tells them.

"That's okay. I'm headin' home now. I'll see you at the Landry's house tomorrow for the mint julep party." Summer calls after Emma as she heads into the kitchen.

"Summer?" Cooper asks. "Do you know Charlotte's friend, Amy?

"Of course I know Amy. Why?" Summer asks.

"Charlotte wants her to be at our wedding. She's too stubborn to pick up the phone and call."

"Charlotte's been givin' Amy the silent treatment for years now." Summer tells.

"Would Amy be willing to talk to Charlotte?"

"I think so; Amy misses Charlotte. They were best friends in college. They went to the same med school. Amy was Charlotte's maid of honor at her first weddin' and Charlotte was Amy's maid of honor. I don't understand how Charlotte could blame Amy for anything. Amy was caught between a rock and a hard place."

"Could you call her and ask if she would be willing to meet with Charlotte?" Cooper asks.

"I'll call her as soon as I get home." Summer gives Cooper a hug this time and heads out the door.

Charlotte comes back downstairs. "How's your momma?" Cooper asks.

"She was sleeping when I checked in the room." Charlotte's disappointed.

Cooper gives her a hug. "Show me around your yard?" Cooper asks trying to cheer Charlotte up. "Show me where you kept your horse. What was her name? Marjorie?"

"Yes." Charlotte smiles. "You remembered."

"How could I forget? You wanted to name our first child after her." They walk outside. Cooper grabs her hand. Charlotte leads him towards the barn.

"Marjorie was a great horse. Some of my best childhood memories are of riding Marjorie. I'd come home from school, hop on her back and ride, just the two of us; me and my horse." Charlotte leads Cooper into the barn. "Now, I have you."

Cooper isn't sure how to take that. "Now I'm a replacement for your horse?" he scrunches up his face.

"No." Charlotte scrunches up her face at him. "I mean, I used to look forward to seeing Marjorie every day. Now I look forward to seeing you."

Charlotte sits on a hay bale in the barn.

Cooper sits down next to her. "Do I really make you that happy?" He moves in close so they're thighs are touching.

Charlotte looks up into his blue eyes. "Want me to show you how happy you make me?" She teases and kisses him. Charlotte pulls him down on top of her as she leans her back on the bale of hay. Cooper's kissing her. All the sudden, he feels something wet and cold on the back of his neck. He jumps up to see a furry face with big brown eyes. The big dog is licking Cooper.

Charlotte looks up. "Hey Ralph. How ya doin' boy? She sits up and pats him on the head. He likes you, Coop. Now get over here and get back on top of me." She tells Cooper.

"But the dog's watching us." He tells Charlotte. "I can't do it with that dog staring at us."

"Fine then." Charlotte gets up. Her disappointment's apparent. "Let's go for a walk. I'll show you the rest of our property. They walk off hand in hand with Ralph following , his tail wagging.

**A/N Thanks to those of you that reviewed. Thanks for the private messages. I love to get messages from you guys! Thanks to Scarlett88 for being a great beta reader!**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Momma

The morning sun beams through the bay window in the guest bedroom waking Cooper. He stretches and yawns. He turns to look for Charlotte, but finds a note on her pillow. _Went shopping with Emma. I'll be back in a little while. We left you some breakfast in the kitchen._ Cooper takes a quick shower, puts on his comfortable jeans and a t- shirt and makes his way downstairs. The King estate is large and quiet. Cooper looks around and wonders if this was a cold place to grow up. Cooper walks into the kitchen and is surprised to see a woman at the stove, stirring a pot of grits. "Hello" Cooper greets her.

The woman nearly jumps out of her skin, clearly startled by Cooper's sudden appearance in her kitchen. "Good Lord, you scared me." The woman says in a shaky voice. The woman appears to be about 60. She's wearing a light blue sundress with white trim. Her shoulder length hair is blonde with a lighter streak of blonde hair framing her face. She's petite and very attractive for a woman of sixty, Cooper thinks. She looks at him and says. "You must be Cooper Freedman." He recognizes the shade of her deep green eyes. He knows it well. She extends out her hand to him. "I'm Charlotte Joe's momma."

Cooper shakes her hand. "It's nice to meet you." Cooper's feeling uncomfortable. "I didn't mean to scare you ma'am. I didn't think anyone was home. Charlotte left me a note about breakfast. That must be it." He gestures to a plate of pancakes and eggs on the table.

"Honey, you can't eat those; Those are cold. They've been sittin' there about two hours. Sit down; I'll fix you a fresh breakfast. Do you eat grits?"

Cooper sits. "No; It's okay. I don't want to bother you." Cooper's definitely nervous.

"It's no trouble, honey; you must eat eggs. How do you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled eggs are fine." Cooper's looking out the window and tapping his finger on the table, wondering when Charlotte's going to get home.

Momma cracks open the eggs and as she mixes them in the bowl, she talks to Cooper "I wanna' thank you properly for helping, Charlotte Joe, out when my husband was sick. I was told you were the one that shut his machine off." She pours milk in the bowl and mixes. Her hands are shaky.

"Yes. I didn't feel Charlotte should have to do it." Cooper watches her mix.

"Thank you. That was kind of you. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you while you were here. I… I… I….wasn't feeling well. She pours the mixture into a pan. "Do you like cheese melted in?"

"That sounds good." Cooper answers. He's starting to feel a little more comfortable.

"Charlotte Joe says you're a pediatrician; you must like children?" Momma sprinkles some shredded cheese in the pan. Cooper starts salivating. He's feeling hungry now.

"I adore children." Cooper says as he watches her cook the eggs.

Momma pops some bread into the toaster. "I was happy to hear Charlotte Joe's getting married again, after the hell she went through with her first marriage, I didn't think she'd ever get married again. She's blessed to have met you." She scoops the eggs onto a plate and hands them to Cooper; her hands shaking.

"Thank you." He says. "I'm lucky to marry Charlotte." Cooper tells momma. Ralph the dog comes over to Cooper looking for a hand out.

"No Ralph. Git over here! Sit down!" The dog obeys and Cooper can see where Charlotte gets some of her mannerisms from. If he wasn't looking right at her, he would have thought it was Charlotte talking. Momma hands Cooper his toast. "Can I pour you some coffee?"

"Yes please." Cooper answers and they hear the front door open. Ralph starts barking.

"Hush up Ralph. It's just Charlotte Joe." Momma yells. "We're in the kitchen!"

Charlotte walks in and is surprised to see her momma, dressed for the day and talking with Cooper. She hasn't spent time with her momma yet, since they arrived yesterday . Momma had stayed in her bedroom up until now.

"Momma?" Charlotte says surprised.

"Come over here, baby girl, and give me a proper hello." Charlotte hugs her mother and then sits down with Cooper.

"Your mother made me fresh eggs. The other plate was cold. Where were you?"

"I went shopping. Mrs. Williams opens up her shop early. I bought a dress for me and a suit for you to wear to the mint julep. We didn't pack any nice clothes."

"I have to wear a suit to this?"

"Yes Cooper. The women all wear summer dresses and the men suits."

"Oh?" Cooper says with his mouth full of eggs. He swallows. "I didn't know it was fancy."

"I don't know why my brother went and planned this without askin' me first?" Charlotte complains.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth Charlotte Joe. Be grateful Landry cares enough to host this party for you and Cooper. He asked his friend to D.J."

"Yes ma'am." Charlotte answers her mother and gets quiet.

"I'm going up to my room now. I'll see you later."

"Thank you for the breaksfast….uh….Mrs. King."

"You can call me momma if you like."

"Okay then, thank you for the breakfast, momma." Cooper smiles.

After momma is gone Charlotte says "I bet she's goin' to her room to pop some pills. Then she'll have to take a long nap."

"Charlotte Joe, that isn't a nice thing to say about your momma." Cooper teases her.

"I know my momma, Coopster." Charlotte teases back.

"I like your mother, she reminds me of you."

"You did not just say that!" Charlotte glares at him.

"What? I like your mother; it's a compliment, Charlotte."

"You just met my momma. You'll see soon enough what I'm talkin' about."

"Here have some eggs and toast with me." Cooper hands her a piece of toast.

"No. I can't eat anything. My stomach's hurtin.' " Charlotte grimaces as she says it.

"Is it your ulcer? Did you take the medicine Dr. Gibson gave you?"

"It's just that big meal Emma made last night. I got nostalgic for the pulled pork. Haven't had it since I moved away and I ate a little more, no a lot more, than I should've."

"I hope that's all it is. I don't want you passing out on me again."

"Stop worrying, Cooper; I'm fine." She gives him a little kiss on the lips. She loves how he worries about her.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 Mint Julep

Cooper comes downstairs. He's wearing the summer suit Charlotte bought him, a light brown jacket with a blue shirt, no tie, and matching light brown pants. Charlotte's waiting for him downstairs. Charlotte's wearing a dark pink strapless sundress with black trim. She has on a large rimmed straw hat with pink trim and a pink ribbon hanging down. Cooper admires her. Charlotte notices him staring. "It's a mint julep party Coop everyone will be dressed like this."

"Love the hat." He smirks and gives her a peck on the lips.

"You two go ahead without us. Your momma's not ready yet. We'll meet you there. Take your momma's car. The keys are hanging on the hook by the door." Emma calls down from upstairs.

"Great," Charlotte says to Cooper. "Momma's got the vapors and probably won't show up." Charlotte's clearly annoyed.

"I'm sure she'll be there Charlotte." Cooper rubs her shoulders. "Let's just go." He grabs the set of keys off the hook.

They pull up to a sprawling white house along side a large creek. "There's alot of cars here. How many people did your brother invite?" Cooper's feeling a bit nervous now. He didn't expect the mint julep party to be so big.

"It looks like he invited the whole town." Charlotte answers as she gets out of the car.

Two little girl emerge from the house to greet them. They're wearing colorful sundresses and holding parasails over their heads. One of the girls hands Charlotte a bouquet of wild flowers.

"Thank you sweetie. Did you pick these yourselves? Charlotte asks the two little girls"

"Yes ma'am." The older girl answers.

"Cooper. These are my nieces, Ashley and Alley. Girls this is uncle Coop." Cooper says "Hello" to the two blonde little girls.

Charlotte and Cooper enter the house and are swarmed by guests who want to congratulate the newly engaged couple. Charlotte introduces Cooper to an assortment of older relatives and neighbor's. After the initial crowd disperses, Landry and his wife, Natalie greet the couple with hugs. Natalie hands Charlotte a mint julep drink. "What could we get you to drink Cooper?" Natalie asks.

"A beer will be just fine." Cooper responds.

"Andrew. Go fetch your Uncle Cooper a cold beer from the cooler." Natalie tells a young boy about eight years old.

"Yes ma'am." The young boy runs off.

"The food is set up outside, whenever you're ready to eat." Natalie tells them. "If ya'll excuse me I have to check on the biscuits." The little boy comes back and hands Cooper the beer with an opener for it.

"Thank you." Cooper tells him.

"You're welcome sir." The little boy says and then runs off outside.

"The kids are so polite here." Cooper tells Charlotte.

"It's how they're raised in Dixie." Charlotte walks to the back window and looks out at the crowd of about fifty guests.

"Cooper asks. "Do you know them all?"

Summer walks up to them with her boyfriend and introduces him to Cooper "Cooper this is my boyfriend, John." Cooper shakes hand with the man. Charlotte gives John a hug and he talks about how too much time has gone since they last saw each other.

The DJ is outside and he begins to play his music. He starts with a song 'Sweet Caroline' to get the crowd interested. It's a catchy tune and soon everyone is singing along.

"_Hands,... touching hands... reaching out... touching me... touching you..."._ Cooper looks over when he hears Summer and John singing along. His jaw nearly drops to the floor when he notices Charlotte is smiling and singing along with them. _"Sweet... Caroline..._ " The Dj turns off the music and the crowd still sings "_OH!... OH!... OH!..." _The music comes back on and the crowd keeps singing. "_Good times never seemed so good... I've been inclined... to believe... it never would." _Cooper's watching Charlotte sing along. She notices him and stops singing.

"Keep singing." He tells her. Charlotte ignores him. She looks out the window at the guests. She ;ets out a gasp and then swallowas hard.

"What?" Cooper asks.

"Amy's here... That's her in the blue dress, with her hair pulled up in a bun. She's with her husband, Luke... Oh my god! What's she doing here?" Charlotte's shocked.

"I invited her." Summer confesses. "I didn't think you'd mind."

Charlotte catches her breath. "She…she wanted to come?"

"Yes Charlotte. Now go on and say hey to her."

Charlotte looks at Cooper. "Will you come with me?" Cooper grabs her hand and they walk outside. Some other guests come over to greet them and Charlotte introduces the assortment of cousin's and old high school friends to Cooper. After they're done saying hello to everyone, Cooper and Charlotte make their way to a table in the corner of the yard near the pool, where Amy is sitting with her husband.

"Hello" Charlotte greets her, feeling a little shaky.

"Hello, girl. How many years has it been?" Amy says as she gets up and hugs Charlotte. They hug for a long time, neither one wans to let go. After the hug both of them are fighting back the tears.

"I'm sorry" Amy says to Charlotte.

"Nothin' to be sorry about. It's all in the past." Charlotte tells her and they sit down at the table. Cooper introduces himself to Amy and her husband. The foursome sit at the table and talk. It seems casual and easy. Charlotte and Amy talk and laugh like seven years hasn't gone by since the last time. They're all doctor's, so they discuss their jobs. Amy and Luke are surprised to find out that Charlotte is not only chief of staff but also has a practice as a sexologist.

"Why do you do that to yourself, girl? You're going to end up with an ulcer." Amy tells her.

Cooper and Charlotte exchange glances and smirk. "I already have one." Charlotte tells her old friend. I'm on medication for it."

"Cooper says. "I'm starving. I'll fix us a couple plates." Luke gets up with Cooper to go to the buffet table, leaving Charlotte and Amy to talk.

"Cooper seems like a great guy. " Amy tells.

"I'm lucky to have found him." Charlotte answers. "How's Mark doing?" She asks.

"Mark's doing well. He's a surgeon at the county hospital. He's one of the best. He's got a waiting list a mile long of patients waiting to see him." Amy admires Charlotte's ring as she speaks.

"That's great for him." Charlotte rubs her fingertip over her ring.

"He never remarried. He's dated but no one serious. It turns out Gina _was _lyin'. He had a paternity test done shortly after the baby was born and it wasn't his."

"Oh. I guess that's good for him." Charlotte looks down at the ring.

"We tried to call and tell you, we had a hard time finding you. Your family wouldn't tell us where you moved to. They wouldn't give us your new phone numbers." Amy explains.

"I told them not to. I wanted to make a fresh start in LA. I wanted to leave the past in the past." Charlotte's voice is soft.

"How's that working out for you?" Amy asks.

"I'm happy. I have my jobs and Cooper. I miss Alabama sometimes, and you and I've got this rotten ulcer pestering me."

"I thought you were on medication for it?"

"I am but it's been hurtin' again."

"Why don't you have it checked out at my clinic tomorrow?" Amy offers.

"Thanks but no, Cooper and I are heading home the day after tomorrow. I'll wait until we get back."

Cooper and Luke come back to the table with four plates spilling over with food. "Hey, Charlotte! Did you know Luke and Amy play tennis?"

"Amy and I used to be tennis partners." She tells him.

"How about we all play tomorrow at the Country Club?" Amy asks

"We'd love to, right Charlotte? " Cooper asks.

"Yeah, fine." Charlotte answers. Charlottes distracted. She notices her momma and Emma walk outside and sit down at a table with her brother Duke and his girlfriend.

"Your momma looks good, Charlotte. How's she doing?" Amy asks

"I'm not sure." Charlotte answers. "She looks good right now. I'm sure Duke will keep his eye on her like a hawk." Charlotte answers.

"Is she still taking the anti-anxiety pills?" Amy asks

" Yup she has her good days and her bad days from what I understand."

The conversation is interrupted by the DJ who announces that he has a dedication for Charlotte. The music begins and most everyone in the crowd starts singing along. It feels right to be home and sing along to 'Sweet home Alabama'. She glances over at Cooper and he smiles. She keeps singing. Cooper's amazed. He's never seen this side of his fiancee' before. " Cooper puts his hand to cover his mouth and whispers. "I'm glad we did this."

"Okay enough whispering over there you two lovebirds." Amy says from across the table. "I want to make a toast." The four friends raise up their glasses. "To Charlotte and Cooper, Congratulations, wishing you lots of love and lots of laughter!"

Amy begins clanking on her glass with her fork. Soon everyone else starts doing it too. Charlotte leans in to Cooper and gives him a sweet kiss on the lips. The crowd claps.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 Tennis Anyone?

Charlotte and Cooper just finished driving two hours and reached the town of Terryville. They're planning on meeting Charlotte's friend Amy and her husband Luke to play some tennis at the Terryville Country Club near Amy's house. Charlotte knows the Country Club well. She used to be a member years ago when she was married to Mark. It felt like a different lifetime to her now. Charlotte couldn't escape the melancholy she felt as she looked out the window at the places she used to go. There was the cafe she would meet Mark at on their lunch breaks. Then she spotted the church where she married Mark. She closed her eyes she didn't want to keep remembering. She started to feel a nagging pain in her stomach and couldn't help but grimace.

"Are you feeling okay?" Cooper asks her as he drives.

"I'm fine." She dismisses his concern. "Make a left at the next light and the County Club's straight ahead." Charlotte instructs.

Cooper follows the instructions. " Look there's Luke and Amy. They look like they're waiting for us." Cooper pulls into a parking spot.

The foursome exchange hellos and head over to the tennis courts. "How do you want to play? Guys against girls? Or couples?" Amy asks.

"Let's play the first game guys verse girls and the next couples." Charlotte decides.

"Charlotte's dressed in a cute black tennis outfit, that she borrowed from her cousin, Summer. Her hair's up in a pony tail and she's wearing no makeup. She's a serious and competitive player. Amy's dressed similar. She's wearing a white tennis outfit and her long dark hair is pulled up. Cooper and Luke are wearing polo shirts and shorts. They start playing and they have a good volley going. The game is close. Charlotte and Amy are getting a workout diving for balls, not allowing any to get away. There are a few squabbles with Cooper and Luke about whether some balls were misses or were out. The game is very close, so there is some question as to who the winner's are. They take a short break to catch their breath and drink some water. It's time for the couple's game. Cooper is just as competitive as Charlotte. Cooper serves the ball, Luke hits it back over the net and it heads for Charlotte. Charlotte tries to dive for it and misses. Cooper asks "What happened? You could have got that." Charlotte just shrugs her shoulder's. Then more of the same happens the first quarter of the game. Cooper calls for a break and walks over to Charlotte "What's going on? Are you trying to throw the game on purpose? If you are, you better tell me now! I'm not running my ass off around this court if you're not even going to try."

"I am tryin'." Charlotte tells him and she leans over out of breath.

"Charlotte, you're missing easy shots. How's that trying? Why don't you play as good with me as you played when you were Amy's partner?"

"I'm not feelin' good." Charlotte doubles over holding her stomach, and sits on the ground. "I'm feeling really nauseous too."

"Oh my god, Char. Why didn't you say anything?" Cooper kneels down next to her and wraps his arms around her. Amy and Luke come running over.

"What's wrong?" Amy kneels down next to them.

"It's her ulcer. We need to get her to a hospital." Cooper tries to remain calm.

"The county hospital is just up the road and to the right. We'll drive." Amy instructs.

Cooper lifts Charlotte up and carries her to the car. He sits in the backseat and Charlotte's lying on her side with her knees bent up and her head resting on Cooper's lap. He gently rubs her head as she quietly moans in pain. She vomits up a small amount of blood into a plastic bag Cooper finds on the floor of the car. "We need to get there quick!" Cooper says trying not to alarm Charlotte about the blood.

Amy and Luke are both doctor's and begin asking questions. " Where exactly does it hurt? On a scale of one to ten, how do you rate the pain?" Amy asks.

Charlotte just moans. "I'd say that's ten and a half." Cooper responds. "She had a bleeding ulcer about two weeks ago. They repaired it with cautery during an EGD endoscopy. She's been on meds since." Cooper explains.

"It sounds like it's back with a vengeance." Luke adds. "Call Lance and tell him to meet us in the endoscopy room." Luke tells Amy since he's driving.

"Who's Lance?" Cooper asks.

"He's the gastro guy at County Hospital. He's a friend of ours. He'll take good care of her. We'll bypass the emergency room, since you already know what the problem is."

They arrive at the hospital and place Charlotte in a wheelchair. They rush her to the endoscopy room. After explaining the situation to Dr. Lance Jollie, he agrees to perform an EGD endoscopy. The nurses draw blood and take Charlotte's blood pressure. Charlotte's tries to be brave but let's out an occasional moan. She almost hits Dr. Jollie, when he presses on her stomach. Cooper's holds her right hand tight while the nurses start an IV on the left. Do you mind if we stay in the room? Luke asks.

"Dr. Jollie replies "As long as you don't interfere." The nurse administers a drug into the IV to sedate Charlotte. Cooper rubs her head and squeezes her right hand tight. "I'm here Char. I'm going to stay right here." Charlotte looks at him her green eyes glazed over in a daze.

"Okay the patient's sedated. I need everyone who's not essential to step back so we can begin." Cooper hates letting her hand go but he knows the nurses need to stand in his spot to help Dr. Jollie with the endoscopy. He takes a few steps back along with Amy and Luke. They watch Dr. Jollie pass the tube down Charlotte's throat. Cooper looks away. He's a doctor and he's seen this procedure performed many times but it's different when it's his fiancée. He hates seeing Charlotte so helpless. Dr. Jollie pushes the endoscopy tube to her stomach and announces he's in. They look up at the screen and they could see the inside of Charlotte's stomach. "Here it is." He announces. You can see the ulceration quite clearly. It's not terribly big, but it's bleeding. It appears to be perforated. Do we have her labs back yet? We may need to transfuse her... ..We don't know how long it's been bleeding like this."

"Can you stop the bleeding with cauterization?" Cooper asks.

"I wouldn't bother to try it. They did that two weeks ago and here we are again. This ulcer is small but deep. Once it's perforated, she needs surgery to repair it. I suggest that they do a biopsy." Dr. Jollie turns to the the nurses. "Call the OR and let them know we have a patient for them. Check the schedule and tell me who's on call for general surgery today."

"You're not going to do the surgery?" Cooper asks.

"I'm a gastroenterologist. I'm not a surgeon." He tells Cooper.

"Dr. Powers is on call today." The nurse announces. "Lucky for Dr. King, he's our top surgeon. He's got a waiting list a mile long."

"That's great." Cooper makes a sigh of relief. "At least something's gone right for her today."

"No. He can't operate on her." Amy says. "What about Dr. Vega? Let's call her to do it?"

"Dr. Vega is at her office in Monroesville today. It'd take her too long to get here." The nurse responds.

"What about Joe Carey. We could call him." Amy suggests.

The nurse checks the schedule. "He just started a surgery in OR #2, it's a ruptured appendix, so he'll be in there a while."

"What about Gary Martin? Call him." Amy suggests.

The nurse checks the schedule again. "Dr Martin's seeing patients at the surgical clinic today."

"That's okay; we can call him and have someone else cover his patients." Amy answers.

"Why the hell would you do that? Dr. Jollie interrups. Gary Martin is a brand new surgeon. He's fresh out of residency. Dr. Powers is on call and he's an excellent surgeon with years of experience."

"Dr. Powers can't operate on Charlotte." Amy answers.

Cooper's perplexed about the way Amy's acting.

Luke says "Technically he _can_ operate on her. They're divorced. They're not related anymore so he_ can_ operate on Charlotte."

Cooper's heart thumps.

"I don't think Charlotte would want Mark operating on her." Amy says, looking at Charlotte.

"I would expect her to want the best surgeon to operate on her. Dr. Powers is an excellent surgeon and Dr. Martin is brand new." Dr. Jollie adds.

"I want the best." Cooper announces. "I don't care who he is. I just want her to have the best surgeon."

"Okay." Amy says quietly looking to the floor.

"Okay then." Dr. Jollie tells the nurses. "Prepare the patient for surgery and call Dr. Powers so I can give him a report."

Cooper walks over to a sedated Charlotte and kisses her on the forehead. "I love you." He whispers.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 Surgery

Charlotte's sedated on the endoscopy table. Cooper's talking to the anesthesiologist about Charlotte's medical history when Dr. Powers walks in the room. As he strides in the room he calls out "What have we got ?" All heads in the room turn to look in his direction. Mark Powers is dressed in dark blue hospital scrubs and a white lab coat. His shoulder length brown hair is tucked neatly in his black scrub cap. His bright blue eyes jump out at you when you look at him. He welll built, muscular, looks like he works out during his spare time.

Dr. Jollie responds. "Hey Mark we've got a thirty-three year old female with a history of a bleeding gastric ulcer. She had it cauterized by EGD two weeks ago at another hospital. She's having severe pain and bleeding today. The endoscopy shows a perforated gastric ulcer as you can see on the screen. She's receiving a blood transfusion right now."

"Okay" Mark says as he looks at the endoscopy pictures. "Any other medical history?" he asks.

"No." Cooper answers. "Besides the ulcer she's pretty healthy."

"Who are you?" Dr. Powers asks.

"I'm Cooper Freedman. Charlotte's fiancé."

Mark looks around the room and spots Amy and Luke standing in the corner. Mark can't see Charlotte's face yet. It's blocked by the anesthesiologist who's checking Charlotte with his stethoscope. "Why are you both here? Is this one of your patients?" Marks asks.

"The patient is Charlotte, our Charlotte." Amy answers

"My Charlotte?" Dr. Mark Power's asks and he nudges aside the anesthesiologist to get a look at her face.

"Charlotte King" Luke responds.

"My god. I didn't know she was back in town." Mark says as he looks at her asleep on the table. She hasn't changed that much, he thinks to himself.

"She's not." Amy tells him. "She was here for a quick visit with her family. She's got a flight back for LA tomorrow."

"Not anymore." Mark responds. "Looks like she's going to be staying with us a while. Let's get her to the OR now." He tells the nurses.

Cooper sits in the OR waiting lounge with Amy and Mark. They're all pretty quiet right now. Cooper keeps thinking about how Mark called her_ my Charlotte. _She wasn't Mark's Charlotte anymore. She was his Charlotte now. Cooper clutches a clear plastic baggie in his hand which holds Charlotte's watch and engagement ring. He couldn't help but run his fingers over the ring through the plastic. He wondsered what's going on in the OR. It bothers him that Charlotte's life is in the hands of her ex husband. He thinks about Charlotte's ex- husband seeing Charlotte on the table and handling her. It wouldn't have bothered Cooper so much if Mark didn't refer to her as _my Charlotte._

After waiting about two hours Mark comes out to the waiting room to talk to them. "Charlotte did well. It was a perforated gastric ulcer, which I repaired. She can't eat or drink for anything for at least a week but we'll talk about that later. She's in the recovery room now. After she wakes up she'll be moved to a room on the surgical wing on the third floor."

"Can we visit her in recovery?" Cooper asks him.

"No" Mark answers as he looks at the transparent bag with the engagement ring Cooper is holding. "We don't allow visitor's in the recovery room."

Amy glares at him. She knows darn well Mark could give them permission to see her if he wanted. He's the surgeon in charge. "Can't you make an exception and at least let Cooper go in?" She asks.

"I've always been one for following the rules, Amy. I don't need to tell you that." He glares back at her. Mark still harbors bad feelings for her because she was the one who told Charlotte about the cheating. "I'll go check on Charlotte for you all now." Mark walks away and enters a set of double doors that say Recovery Room.

The nurses are trying to wake Charlotte up from the anesthesia. "Charlotte, Charlotte wake up honey." The nurse calls out gently rubbing her shoulders. Charlotte slowly opens her eyes. "There you go, honey. You're in the hospital. You just had surgery and everything is fine." Charlotte looks around the recovery room. It doesn't look like St Ambrose and she's still feeling groggy. Mark walks over and holds her hand. Charlotte looks at him and thinks she must be hallucinating from the drugs they gave her. She decides to close her eyes again so she could have a different dream.

"Hey open your eyes sunshine, you need to be awake so they can move you to your room. Amy, Luke and that boyfriend of yours are all waiting for you to wake up." Charlotte opens her eyes wide now. She realizes this is no hallucination. She looks at Mark holding her hand and tries to pull it away."

"What are you doing here?" She asks in a raspy voice.

"I operated on you. You're going to feel sore and crappy for a few days, but I'm good at what I do, soon you'll feel brand new." He smiles.

Charlotte doesn't return the smile. Her heart rate goes up and Mark can see it on the monitor. She pulls herself up in bed and grimaces from pain at her incision site. "I'll have the nurses give you something for pain." He calls to the nurses. "Ms. King is awake now. Give her some pain medicine and then get her ready to move to the surgical wing."

Charlotte corrects him. "It's Dr. King; remember? Not Ms. King."

"I recall when it was Dr. King-Powers" He tells her.

"It's Dr. King now." She answers in her raspy, post anesthesia voice.

"You should've kept Powers. It sounds better." He raises his eyebrows at her.

Charlotte doesn't answer. She just stares blankly back at him. She thinks about the time after they got married when she told him how much she loved her new name, Charlotte King-Powers. She knows he remembers it too. "I'll check on you again once you're in the room. In the meantime, I'll tell_ your_ friends and boyfriend you're being moved now." He walks away.

Charlotte wants to yell back at him that Cooper's her fiancé, not her boyfriend, but her throat's sore. She looks at her finger and misses her ring.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The nurses settle Charlotte into her hospital bed and tell Cooper who's waiting in the hall that he may go in now. Cooper walks in with a great big smile on his face. He looks at Charlotte. She's as pale as the white hospital walls. She has dark circles under both eyes. Her normally bright green eyes are weak. The front of her hair is falling straight down in her face, she pushes it away. The rest is tangled up in the ponytail holder on the side of her head. She's wearing a pale blue hospital gown with little blood splatters on the front from when they started her IV. She has an IV in each hand. The one on the right has a blood transfusion dripping into it. The one on the left has IV fluids running in it. There is another line in her forearm that Cooper recognizes as a permanent IV, that that place in people who are going to need long-term IV therapy. It's not hooked up to anything yet. Cooper walks over to Charlotte and gently kisses her forehead. He sits in the chair next to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Crappy." She answers in a raspy weak voice.

"Here." Cooper gently picks up her left hand. He takes the engagement ring out of the plastic baggie and slips it back on her finger. She looks up and gives him a sad smile. "I can't put the watch on because of the IV's." He tells her.

"It's okay. I'm not going anywhere. " She tells him.

"Violet, Sam and Addison all wish you well." Cooper fixes her sheets for her.

"You called them?" She asks.

"I had to let them know we wouldn't be flying home tomorrow."

"Oh great! " Charlotte leans her head back on the pillow. "I've got to call St. Ambrose and let them know I'm not gonna' be back at work Monday mornin'."

"Already done." Cooper answers. "I called your family too. They're on their way up to see you now."

"You shouldn't have bothered. They're all gonna worry now." Charlotte says all raspy.

"You worried me." He tells her with big sad eyes.

There's a knock at the door and Dr. Mark Powers walks in. "Hello Sunshine. How are you feeling?" He smiles and walks over to Charlotte's bedside.

Charlotte doesn't answer. She looks at Cooper. She's not sure if Cooper knows that Mark is her ex. Cooper watches Mark. Cooper's contempt for Mark is growing. "I need to check your incision site." He goes to pull up Charlotte's gown. Charlotte holds her hand on it so he can't pull it up.

Charlotte tells him in a hoarse voice "I'm a doctor. I can check my own damn incision ."

Mark laughs. "You're my patient today and I need to see my work." He tugs at the gown.

"Let me." Cooper says softly. Cooper pulls the sheet all the way up to the incision site and then lifts Charlotte's gown so only the bandaged area is exposed.

"Thank you." Charlotte looks at Cooper.

Mark takes off the bandage. "It looks good. I put in dissolvable sutures so no need to have them removed." He puts a new bandage on.

"What about a scar?" Charlotte asks.

"I told you I'm good. It'll be barely noticeable. I'm keeping you in the hospital. You can't eat or drink anything until I say so. I want to do another endoscopy in five days to check how the ulcer is healing. I'll decide if I want to let you start drinking yet. I placed a permanent line in your right arm. We'll start giving you your total nutrition through that in the mean time. I sent a biopsy off to the lab."

"Why?" Cooper asks "It' just an ulcer isn't it?

"Yes. I believe so but I'm concerned it came back so fast and aggressive since it was cauterized two weeks ago. Only four percent of gastric ulcers are malignant so I wouldn't worry. I just want to cover all my bases. The biopsy results will be back in a couple of days."

Cooper takes a deep breath. He really doesn't like Mark now.

"I'll be back in the morning to check your incision again." He tells Charlotte. 'Bye Sunshine." He says as he walks out the door.

"I don't like him." Cooper says as he scrunches up his face.

"You do know he's my ex-husband?" Charlotte asks.

Cooper sighs. "Yeah, I know."

"How'd he end up operatin' on me?" Charlotte asks Cooper.

"Apparently, he's the best in this hospital and I wanted you to have the best." Cooper tells her.

"Oh" Charlotte responds.

"How could you be married to that guy? He's an arrogant jerk." Cooper whines.

"He wasn't like that when I married him. It was a long time ago." Charlotte grabs for Cooper's hand.

There's another knock at the door. This time it's momma, Landry and Summer. Landry hands her a bouquet of pink and white carnations. Cooper takes them and puts them in a water pitcher. "Charlotte can't use this pitcher to drink from anyway." He tells them.

Momma hands Charlotte an old brown bear dressed in blue overalls. "I thought you might need him. He used to help, when you were younger."

Charlotte's eyes brighten. "Oh my god Paddy. I thought you threw him away."

"How could I throw away your favorite bear Charlotte Joe?" Momma tells

Summer gives Charlotte a plastic horse with a long mane, a child could comb.

"Where'd you find Butterscotch? I lost that horse when I was ten years old." Charlotte's surprised.

"You left it at my house and I kept it. I'd hide it in my closet whenever you came over." Summer confesses.

"That's stealin' Summer. You stole Butterscotch." Charlotte tells her. "I don't know if I should thank you or smack you."

"Thanking her would be your better option considering all the devices you have coming out of your hands. Smacking Summer will hurt you more." Landry advices with a smile. "By the way guess who we saw in the elevator?" Landry asks.

Summer nudges him hard with her elbow so that Landry yells "Ow".

Charlotte answers. "Y'all saw Mark. Am I right?"

"Yup! A blast from the past! Did you see him?" asks Landry

"Hell yeah! I saw him. He's the one who did my surgery." Charlotte tells.

"Why?" Landry asks

"Apparently, he's the best one and he was on call today." Charlotte answers.

"That sucks." Summer interrupts. "I'd hate to be laying on the table naked while my ex-husband stuck his fingers in my body."

"Get out now Summer" Charlotte yells. "First of all I was wearing a gown and second he didn't stick any of his fingers in my body. They use surgical tools!" Charlotte's voice was strong and angry now. Cooper just stayed quiet listening to all the King's converse with each other. He felt like a fly on the wall in Charlotte's family.

"Come on Summer, I told Natalie I'd stop by the urology clinic and pick up a vasectomy pamphlet." Landry tells her.

"Urology's Charlotte's specialty. She could help you out." Cooper offers.

"If you think there's anyway I'm letting my sister get near my privates you're crazy man." Landry tells Cooper.

"That's all I was sayin'" Summer adds. "I was just sayin' how do you let someone you know see you that way and operate on you?"

"Come on. Let's go." Landry pulls Summer out of Charlotte's room.

"Charlotte, honey you look awful." Momma tells her. "You're a mess and there's blood on that gown you're wearin'."

"I know." Charlotte answers " I hate hospital gowns."

"Don't worry honey. Momma will go to the store and pick you up some pretty tank tops and some sweat pants to wear. The tanks will be good with all these tubes you got. What colors do you want?" Momma pulls a brush out of her purse and starts pulling the tangled ponytail holder out of Charlotte's hair."

"Any colors you want momma. Ow you're pulling my hair." Charlotte cries.

"Gotta get this elastic band out so I could brush it proper. Bare with me a minute baby." Charlotte's momma says as she works on her daughter's hair. Cooper sits back in his chair and watches them. Charlotte's sitting in the bed with her old teddy bear, Paddy, and her plastic horse while her momma is brushing out her hair. Cooper pulls out his cell phone and snaps a photo.

"Hey" Charlotte snaps at him.

Cooper shows the them picture. Charlotte and momma look at it and laugh at themselves. Being a King isn't as bad as he once thought, Cooper relaxes in the chair and takes it all in. This is a whole other side to his fiancee' that he never got to see in LA.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Charlotte's awake early. She's watching the morning news show on the TV in her hospital room. She was feeling a little better. Her hair's neatly combed back in a ponytail. The nurses helped her get dressed in the purple tank top and black sweat pants momma brought in for her. Momma forgot to bring her a bra or any underwear. Charlotte was about to call Cooper who was staying with Amy and Luke at their house just five minutes away from the hospital, when someone walked in her room.

"Hey Sunshine, you're looking much better today. How are you feeling?" Mark asks.

"Sore." Charlotte answers. She grabs the closest thing to her, Paddy, the old teddy bear and clutches him to her chest. She doesn't want Mark to see her in the tank top with no bra look. She knows he's a doctor but he's also her ex-husband.

Marks wearing a gray jacket with matching dress slacks and a blue shirt and tie that bring out his bright blue eyes. His wavy brown hair reaches his shoulders and bounces as he walks over to her hospital bed. "I need to check your incision." He tries to move the bear away. Charlotte holds the bear tight. "What are you five years old with your teddy bear?" He yanks the bear away from her. He gently pulls up the tank top just enough to expose the bandage which is in the stomach region below her left breast. He's professional. "The incision looks good. I want the nurses to start changing it twice a day." Mark puts a new bandage on and then sits in the chair next to her bed. He writes notes in her chart and tells her. "I'm going to start you on some IV nutrition today. You could have some ice chips but that's it until I repeat the endoscopy. It's going to be a couple days for your biopsy report to come back. We need to discuss the cause of this ulcer."

Charlotte looks at him and gulps.

Mark continues "Studies have shown that emotional stress causes an acid buildup in the stomach which allows for the growth of the pyloric bacteria responsible for ulcers. I suggest that you get rid of whoever or whatever is causing stress in your life."

"It's not Cooper if you're referring to him." Charlotte replies annoyed.

"I wasn't referring to anyone in particular. I haven't seen you in seven years, but someone or something is stressing you out. You need to deal with it if you want to avoid this happening again." Mark tries to remain professional.

"I have two jobs. I'm Chief of Staff of a busy hospital in LA and I have a medical practice." Charlotte explains.

"Then you should slow down."

"I love both my jobs. I don't want to slow down."

"A perforated ulcer is serious, Sunshine. You could have bled to death if it wasn't caught in time. Next time you may not be so lucky." Mark gets up. "I've got to go to my office. Have the nurses call me if you have any questions."

Charlotte sighs after he leaves. She knows that he is partially the reason for her ulcer. She thinks back about the brutal things she said to him before they broke up. She wishes she would have been more forgiving, the way Cooper forgave her for the meaningless sex with Archer. But then Cooper returned the favor and was brutal to her with the things he said to her when they broke up. Still it bothered her. She wanted to apologize for the things she said to him. She just doesn't know how to get the words out. This is still hard for her to deal with.

Amy comes in to see her next. "You're looking better." Amy says as she gives Charlotte a hug.

"Thanks. Mark was just here." Charlotte rolls her eyes at ther best friend.

"Great. Mr. Personality himself. I swear his top surgeon status has gone completely to his head." Amy drops her purse onto Charlotte's bed and relaxes in the chair usually occupied by Cooper.

Charlotte smirks. "Yeah, I noticed that."

"What did he say? How are you doing?" Amy asks as she picks up one of Charlotte's magazines and start flipping the pages.

"He says I need to get rid of stress."

"He's probably right. What's got you so stressed out?" Amy offers still flipping through the magazine.

"Believe it or not him. I need to apologize and then I think I'll feel better." Charlotte's sincere

"You don't need to apologize to him for anything?" Amy insists. Amy always thought Charlotte put up with too much from Mark. She puts the magazine down.

"I want to let it go. All the bad feelings. I said some nasty stuff. I need to make right and then that's that." Charlotte rubs her hands together in a quick motion.

"What about Lili?" Amy asks.

"Charlotte looks up. I don't talk about that."

"To anyone?" Amy asks

"Nope." Charlotte answers quick, she wishes Amy would just drop this conversation. Now she picks up the magazine and starts flippping through it.

"No wonder you have an ulcer. You need to talk about it." Amy's surprised after all these years that Charlotte still doesn't talk about her premature daugher.

"I can't go there." Charlotte's annoyed that Amy's bringing this up, she knows how hard Charlotte took it when they turned off Lili's life support.

"Charlotte, it hurts but your not the only one whoever lost a baby. You have to remember Lili and move on." Amy is trying her best to be the sympathetic best friend.

"It wasn't fair and I 'm not talkin about it." Charlotte snaps. She's flipping the pages of the magazine fast and hard.

"I'm going to drop it for now because I need to tell you something, but I'm not dropping it forever." Amy watches Charlotte fling the magazine across the room into the trash can.

"What?" Charlotte answers short; thinking what could be so important that Amy is willing to drop this conversation.

"Luke and I are leaving for Hawaii in the morning. We've had this trip planned over a year. We're going for our tenth wedding aniversary."

"That's right ten years ago I was your maid of honor. Happy anniversary!" Charlotte smiles and tries to act happy.

"I feel bad leaving you in the hospital."

"Don't; Cooper's here. Have a great time." Charlotte hugs her friend.

"Try talking about it to Cooper. Your going to marry the man. You should be able to talk to him."

"I'll think about it." Charlotte knows she should tell Cooper, no she needs to tell Cooper.

"I'll see you when I get back. You be good." Amy says as she walks out the door.

Charlotte picks up the phone, pushes a couple button's and " Coop it's me. When are you coming up to the hospital?"


	24. Chapter 24

Author's Note: I want to explain some medical terms I will be using in future chapters:

PICC Line- this is a form of IV access that can be used for a prolonged period of time for patients requiring long term IV therapy. Charlotte had this placed during surgery. I have been referring to it as a permanent line thinking that many of you would not know what I meant by PICC line.

TPN-stands for Total Parenteral Nutrition. This is a nutritional formula containing salt, sugar,amino acids, fats and vitamins. It is used for patients that can't tolerate eating a regular diet for long periods of time. I have been calling it Charlotte's total nutrition, again because I thought many of you may have never have heard of TPN.

*****************************************************Chapter 24 Cooper and Charlotte **********************************************

Charlotte's bored, sitting in her hospital bed flipping through the channels on the TV. Cooper walks in carrying a shopping bag.

"Did you bring the stuff I asked for?" Charlotte asks.

"I sure did Spanky." Cooper answers as he drops the bag on her bed.

Charlotte raises one eyebrow and looks at him. "What did you just call me?"

"It's your new nickname." Cooper grins.

"But what did you call me? Spanky ?" Charlotte wrinkles her forehead and makes a face.

"Aw come on Char it's cute."

"How'd you come up with that?" Charlotte asks as she looks through the shopping bag?"

"I couldn't sleep last night. I was watching repeats of the little rascals. Spanky reminds me of you. Always has to be the boss." Cooper smiles.

"That makes you Alfalfa." She jokes with him as she pulls some books out of the bag.

"I guess so." Cooper answers as he sits on the end of her bed.

"Shouldn't I be Darla?" Charlotte asks looking through the books Cooper selected for her.

"You're not the Darla type." Cooper ruffles her hair.

Charlotte pulls a black bra with hot pink lace trim out of the bag. "This is what you picked out for me?" Charlotte asks a little annoyed..

"I got you matching underwear." Cooper gives her a sly smile.

"I'm in the hospital." Charlotte snips.

"So, nobody's going to see it." Cooper smirks.

"Cooper. Look at me. I've got IV's coming out of both arms. I've got a PICC line in. I need help getting in and out of my clothes. The nurses are going to think…..."

"That you're a hot tamale." Cooper interrupts and steals a quick kiss from her."

"I'm not looking to turn on the nurses." Charlotte grumps at him.

"I'll help you change." Cooper disconnects the IV's quickly. He gently removes the tank top. Char you've lost a lot of weight." He says as he slips the bra on.

"I'm not allowed to eat; remember?" She reminds him.

Cooper fastens the bra in the back. "After you come home; it'll be ice cream every day."

"How bout martini's?." Charlotte answers as Cooper slips her tank top back on.

"Okay" Cooper answers. "Ice cream and martini's every day it is. I need to talk to you about something, Char."

"I need to talk to you about something too." Charlotte answers. "You go first."

"Okay." Cooper responds. "Violet called. Addison and Sam are drowning, covering your patients and my patients along with their own. They're trying to squeeze everyone in along with surgery and Violet says they're drowning." Cooper explains.

"You're telling me you're going back?" Charlotte asks.

"I don't have a choice Charlotte. They're going to start turning patients away and lose business. We're all equal partners and the business is suffering."

"It's okay. You gotta do it." Charlotte's disappointed.

"I know Amy's going to be gone, but your mom and Summer are here. I'll call them and tell them to come up." Cooper rubs her arm.

"I'm a big girl. Momma lives two hours away. I'll be fine." Charlotte clears her throat and uses a strong tone.

"I know but I want her to be here for your endoscopy procedure. Maybe after that you can come home." Cooper gives her a gentle kiss on the nose and earns himself a smile.

"I'll be okay. You go home and take care of business."

"I'm going to miss you. Spanky." Cooper gives her a big hug and squeezes her tight.

"Watch the incision. Alfalfa." Charlotte pulls away from the hug raises her eyebrows and smiles at him.

"I'm going to call and text you every free second I have." He tells her.

"You better!" She gives him a soft kiss on the lips before he gets up to leave.

"Wait." Cooper turns around as he's ready to walk out the door." Did you want to tell me something?"

"Never mind. It'll keep" Charlotte answers. "I'll see you soon."

"Okay. I love you" Cooper blows her a kiss as he leaves the room.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"Ready for your endoscopy Sunshine?" Mark asks as they wheel Charlotte in the room on a stretcher."

Charlotte just shrugs.

"Where is everyone?" He asks, looking out into the hallway.

"It's just me today." She answers "Momma didn't show up." She lets out a sigh.

"Oh" he groans. He's familiar with Momma's track record of breaking promises. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"Back in LA" She answers.

"He left you alone in Alabama in the hospital?" He furrows his brow.

"Duty calls." She answers pulling the sheet up to her neck. She's feeling cold and she hates that he used the word _alone._

"Well, I promise I'll have you in and out of here quick." He smiles at her as the nurse begins to admisister the IV sedation. Charlotte feels herself drifting away as she closes her eyes.

**C**harlotte wakes up about an hour later in her hospital bed with a blanket pulled up snug to her shoulders. She hears someone say "You finally decided to wake up." And she's happy thinking it's Cooper. Her eyes flutter open and she sees Mark's smiling face sitting in the chair pulled up next to her bed. Mark's watching her which is a little disturbing.

"Why are you watching me sleep?"

"I wasn't watching you sleep. I was waiting for you to wake up from the sedation. You did good. The ulcer is healing. I'm going to allow you to start liquids today; Jell-o, chicken broth, ice pops. How does that sound?"

She rubs her hand over her eyes and yawns. "Sounds good."

"I'll tell the nurses to get you started on it." He gets up to leave.

"Mark wait," she calls out. She's not sure why she's doing this. Maybe she just doesn't want him to leave her alone or maybe it's the sedation. He stops in his tracks. "I… I..need to talk to you." He sits back down in the chair next to her bed.

She feels her heart beat faster. "I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for the things I said before the divorce." There she said it. She sighs in relief.

"What are you talking about Sunny?" His head is tilted and he is grinning slightly. He thinks maybe the sedation is making her talk loopy.

"I should have forgiven you, like Cooper forgave me." Her mouth and throat are dry. She could really go for a Jell-o right now.

"What exactly did Cooper forgive you for?" He's trying to decide if she's clear or a little foggy from the sedation.

"I did to him the same thing to him that you did to me." She looks him in his big blue eyes and it sounds like she's clear in the head.

"You cheated on Cooper?" He raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"I was upset. He moved in with Violet, his best friend. She was pregnant. Do you think I could get some Jell-o now?" She says changing her gaze to the hallway.

Mark gets up and goes in the hall. He comes back a few minutes later with some red Jell-o. He opens the container and hands it to her with a plastic spoon. She's trying to navigate getting the Jell-o on the spoon with IV's in her hand. The Jell-o drops off the spoon as she guides it into her mouth. " Damn" she says.

"Let me help you." Mark scoops up the spilt Jell-o off her gown and onto the spoon and feeds it to her.

"Mmmmm" Charlotte sighs. It's her first taste of food in over a week. It feels good; wet and cool in her dry mouth.

"Cooper got his friend Violet pregnant?" Mark 's feels pain for Charlotte; that Cooper put her through the same situation he did years ago.

"No, NO. He didn't get her pregnant. Pete did, but Cooper moved in with her because Violet was freaking out over it." Charlotte tells him as she savors the Jell-o.

"So you decided it would be best to cheat on him?" Mark feeds her another spoonful of Jell-o. Charlotte swallows.

"I thought it would make me feel better."

"And did it make you feel better?"

"No. I felt worse. I had to tell him about it and he forgave me. I was shocked. Hell, when I found out you cheated on me I wanted to scalp you."

"It was different with us. You thought I got Gina pregnant and we just lost Lili." He scrapes the last of the Jell-o out of the container.

"I know you cheated on me before Gina too. You cheated on me when I was pregnant with Lili. Am I right?" Charlotte raises her eyebrows at him.

"Who told you that? Let me guess. Amy?" He asks spooning the Jell-o in her mouth.

"I figured it out by myself." She smacks her lips together and raises her eyebrows at him again.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asks tossing the Jell-o container in the trash can.

"I was confined to bedrest for premature contractions. I wasn't in the mood for a confrontation with my cheatin' husband."

"I thought you forgave me." He says getting up from the chair.

"I do." She answers looking up at him

"So you forgive me for cheating but you blame me for putting you into premature labor because I _upset_ you by cheating?"

"I didn't say that. You just did. I was already put on bedrest before I figured out about the cheating, so _no_ I don't blame you." The phone rings and Mark picks it up.

"Hello Dr. Freedman... this is Dr. Powers... Charlotte did well... The ulcer appears to be healing nicely...I'm discharging her tomorrow... No, I want her to stay in Alabama at least another week. She's needs the TPN until she's able to tolerate a regular diet. I want to take it slow. ...I'll have her call you when she wakes from her sedation." He hangs up.

"I'm awake. Why didn't you give me the phone?" Charlotte scowls at him.

"We're not done talking." Mark tells her.

"I'm done. I told you I forgive you and that's that. So, I'm going home tomorrow?" She asks excited about the idea of finally getting out of this hopital room.

"Yup. I want you to stay with me at our house."

"What?" Charlotte looks at him like he's crazy. "I'll stay at momma's"

"Your momma lives two hours away. If the ulcerated area of your stomach becomes irritated and starts to bleed, I want you close to my hospital and me. If Amy was in town I'd have you stay there but she's not so you'll stay with me. It's either that or stay in the hospital."

Charlotte looks around. These hospital walls are cold and dreary and she's been here a week already. "Fine. I'll stay with you."

"Good. I'll be by to pick you up in the morning." He walks toward the door turns and can't help but smile. "See you tomorrow Sunny."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Mark carries Charlotte's suitcase up the steps leading to the double front doors of his large colonial style house, the house he bought with Charlotte before they got married. He puts his key in the lock, opens the door and Charlotte who's following behind him takes a deep breath. Brandy, a yellow lab is at the door to greet them. Her ears are back and her tail is wagging vigorously.

Charlotte pats the dog on the head. "Oh my god is this Brandy?" She looks to Mark as she pets the dogs head.

"Of course it's Brandy. Don't you recognize her?" He puts Charlotte's suitcase down in the large foyer.

"I wasn't sure if she was still around. How old is she now?" The dog's licking Charlotte's hand and wagging her tail.

"She's was eleven last month." Mark pats the dog on her head.

Charlotte rubs her hand along the dogs back. "She must remember me. Look how happy she is."

"Oh yeah, look at her tail go." Mark answers. He doesn't tell Charlotte that Brandy wags her tail like that for all the women he brings home. The more they fuss over Brandy the more lovin' she gives them and Charlotte was fussin' and Brandy was lovin' her.

"She looks good for eleven." The dog settles down and flips on her back so Charlotte could rub her belly.

" I feed her all natural dog food and treats. No table food ever. I have a dog walker come over to let her out and exercise her while I'm at work and I take her for a long jog when I get home, so she stays in shape." Mark boasts.

"You sound like a good doggy daddy." Charlotte looks up as she rubs Brandy's belly and thinks he would have been a good daddy to their human baby too if she would have lived longer than five damn days."

"Come on. I'll show you around." Mark walks towards the living area.

"I used to live here; remember?" Charlotte looks up the stairs. She wonders what he did with the nursery. She doesn't want to look at that room. They were just starting to get it ready when she began to have premature contractions and was put on bed rest. They knew it was a girl. They painted the walls a light shade of lavender. They had a talented friend come over and paint a mural of a pony on the wall. Charlotte purchased a reclining rocking chair she saw at the baby store after she found out she was pregnant. She fell in love with the chair and had to have it, thinking about herself sitting in the chair at night feeding the baby. Otherwise, there was just a white bassinet in the room that Landry gave her after his son was finished with it. They didn't buy a crib or baby furniture yet. She started having premature contractions at six months and was put on bed rest. She follows him into the living room. There's just a couch and two end tables. "It doesn't look like anyone lives here." She looks around; it's not the same furniture that was in the room when she left. They had a whole set with a couch, love seat and three tables. She wonders what he did with it.

"I never use this room." He leads her down the hall to the family room which he turned into a home theater." There are theater seats set up and a large screen plasma TV on the wall. "Here try this seat." Charlotte sits down and pushes a few button on the seat."

"You can recline it or if you push that button it'll massage your back."

Charlotte pushes the button. "Nice. Cooper wants one of these chairs for his birthday."

"I can get you a deal." He tells her.

"I live in California after I pay for shipping it won't be a deal."

"You're probably right Sunny." He knows not to argue with her. "Come on I'll show you the kitchen" She follows him across the hall.

"Do you have a maid? How do you keep it so clean with the amount of time you spend at work?" She looks around at the sparkly kitchen. The dog bowls are neatly tucked away on a dinner tray in the corner with a placemat underneath.

"I live here by myself, how much of a mess could I make?" He opens the refrigerator and takes out two bottles of water.

"Violet lives by herself or she did before I moved in and she can make plenty mess all by herself." Charlotte takes the water from him and smirks a litttle.

"So you moved in with her too? That's the pregnant friend Cooper moved in with right?" Mark's fishing for information.

Charlotte leans on the island in the middle of the kitchen. "Cooper moved back into his apartment after the baby was born and I moved in with Cooper, we had a fight and Cooper wanted me out so I moved in with Violet. I'm still living there until we get our own place." Charlotte sips her water.

"He kicked you out? Nice guy you got there Sunny." Mark says sarcastially.

"Yeah well we had a major fight." She's still leaning on the island.

"What'd you fight about that made him want to kick you out? Let me guess you cheated on him again?" He asks sipping his water.

"I told him I was married to you. He got mad because I waited until we were dating two years before I mentioned it."

Mark gulps his water." Why'd you wait so long?"

"I didn't feel like talking about it." She tells him and goes to sit down at the kitchen table.

"Why?" He sits down next to her.

"Cooper would wanna know all the little details and I didn't feel like explainin'." Charlotte sighs.

"Wait, what about Lili? You did tell him about Lili right?"

_"No"_ Charlotte emphasizes and looks away at the framed picture of fruit on the wall that her nanny Emma gave them as a wedding gift.

"_What?"_ His jaw drops, he can't help the reaction. "You haven't told him you had a daughter and you plan on marrying him soon?"

Charlotte gets up and walks out of the kitchen. He follows her. "Charlotte you have to tell him you had a daughter."

"I didn't.. ...Not really." She answers and she feels the tears coming, she tries to fight them, she hates this. This is why she doesn't like to talk about Lily. She can't control the waterworks and she hates that. "I never got to feed her..., never changed her diaper..., never held her until the moment they took her off the life support... She lived her five days in the NICU hooked up to tubes and machines." Charlotte walks back into the living room and sits on the couch. She wipes away the tears that managed to escape out of her eyes with her hand. Mark sits next to her ,he puts his hand on her knee.

Mark moves his face close to hers and looks directly in her eyes to make sure she hears him. "Charlotte you sat next to her every day in the NICU. You held her tiny little hand and played with her little fingers. She knew you were there, you were her mother. Yes, she was hooked up to machines and monitors so you couldn't hold her but you touched her, you felt her warm body, she was real and she was your child. You rubbed your hand along her fuzzy little head, and you prayed for her every day. You prayed that she'd be okay." His hand is still on her knee.

"A lot of good that did me." She covers her eyes with her hand because she can feel the tears starting to come again.

"She was your daughter, _our _daughter. ." He rubs her shoulder. "I go to see her every year on her birthday and for the holidays. I put flowers on her grave. She _was_ _our baby_ even though we never took her home from the hospital " He tries to emphasize this. He hates it that Charlotte wants to pretend Lily never happened.

"I've haven't been to her grave since the funeral." Charlotte puts her hands over her face and her shoulders start to quiver.

Mark wraps his arms around her and she lays her head on his shoulder. "I'll take you to see her then. If you want." He could feel her nod her head yes on his shoulder.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Charlotte wakes up, opens her eyes, she looks around at the walls of her old master bedroom. Mark repainted them a medium shade of blue and he hung new pictures on the wall since she moved out. It was nice of him to let her sleep in the king sized bed while he slept in a guest room down the hall. As she gets up to use the master bathroom she notices there are two toothbrushes at the sink; one purple, one blue. She opens the top draw and spies a woman's hair brush, women's deodorant and some nail polish. As she gets into the shower she notices two different bottles of shampoo. One the type Mark always used and another coconut scented brand. Charlotte borrows the coconut shampoo. She gets out of the shower and looks through the drawers for a blow dryer. She finds a purple one and decides to use it. As she dries her hair she wonders about the woman whose stuff she's borrowing. She wonders what she looks like, what type of woman Mark's dating? Would she mind if she knew Charlotte was using all her stuff? Charlotte smirks to herself. She puts a new bandage over her incision, pulls on a tank top and shorts, then she heads out into hall. She notices the door's shut to the room directly across the hall from the master bedroom. That room that was supposed to be for Lili. She thinks about opening the door to peek inside, she puts her hand on the door knob and she feels butterflies in her stomach. She takes her hand off the door knob and backs away from the door and continues to walk down the hall. As she walks downstairs she wonders what life would have been like if Lili lived. Would she have stayed with Mark and tried to work things out? What kind of family would they be now? She walks into the kitchen.

"Good Morning Sunny" Mark Greets her. Brandy comes over looking for more love and Charlotte gives it to her.

"Hey girl! You remember me don't you? That's my girl. That's my Brandy." Charlotte rubs the dog's head and back.

"I made you some grits and I mixed up some banana's and yogurt for you. Do you still like to eat that for breakfast?" Mark asks as he puts the food on the table.

"I do." Charlotte says as she sits down to eat. "I'm starvin'. This is my first meal besides Jell-o and chicken broth."

"I'm going to keep you on soft food for the rest of the week; so get used to it. I have a nurse coming over this afternoon to hook the TPN to your PICC line. If you tolerate the soft foods by the end of the week we can take you off the TPN and take that PICC line out." Mark sits next to her and drinks a health shake.

"Great, I'll tell Cooper I'm coming home at the end of the week." Charlotte eats her grits.

"Assuming everything goes right and you have no complications, yes." Mark answers and tastes a spoonful of her grits. We should get going after breakfast so we'll be home by noon before the nurse arrives."

"Aren't you going to work?" Where are _we_ going that we have to be back by noon?" She asks still enjoying her grits.

"It's my office day. I asked my partner to cover for me this morning and then I'll go in to work when we get back." He takes another spoonful of her grits.

"Get your own," she pushes his hand away and asks "Where are we going?" She sips the herbal tea he made for her.

"We're going to the cemetery." He takes a gulp of his health shake and waits for her response.

She stares at him a minute then says "Today?"

"Yes, today Sunny. I was able to get my partner to cover for me and if you're leaving at the end of the week, today would be the day to go. Now" He gets up.

As they make the hour long drive to the cemetery where both Big Daddy and Lili are buried neither one of them says a word. They listen to the car radio and Mark laughs along to the morning show comments the host makes. They stop at one point and Mark buys flowers; pink and purple baby carnations and roses. They finally arrive at the cemetery and Charlotte takes a deep breath. She's feeling a little shaky. She gets out of the car and follows Mark down the path leading to Big Daddy and Lili's graves. She has butterflies in her stomach. Mark turns around. "Are you okay?" She doesn't answer.

Mark walks up to her and grabs on to her arm "Are you going to pass out?" He notices she's pale.

"I feel shaky" She answers leaning on him.

He rubs her back. "How's your stomach feeling? You just had your first meal. Does your stomach hurt?" He wraps his arms around her as she leans on him.

"It's not my stomach. My heart's beating fast and I'm light headed and I can't stop shaking." She holds out her hand and he can see it's trembling a little bit.

"I'm going to take you to that bench over there so you could sit down." He lifts her up, cradles her in his arms and carries her to the bench. She rests her head on his shoulder the whole time. He gently places her on the bench and sits next to her. He places his hand over hers and tells her. "Sunny you're having a panic attack. It's alright. It's your first time here in seven years."

She rubs her hand over her face and says "Just like momma. I'm having an attack of the vapors just like momma."

He holds both her hands in his his and tells her to take deep breaths. She listens and they sit on the bench like this for twenty minutes. They don't talk, they just sit close together and breathe and think. Charlotte thinks about the baby she's tried to forget for the last seven years. After the twenty minutes is up she takes a big deep breath and tells him "I'm ready. It's now or never." They get up still holding hands and they walk slowly down the path. They reach Big Daddy's grave first and Charlotte bows her head. She whispers something Mark can barely make out. He thinks she's telling Big Daddy she misses him and wishes he could be at her wedding. He holds her hand and waits with her a few minutes until she tells him she's ready. They take a few more steps until they reach a grave with a small headstone. It's marked _Lili Joe Powers- precious infant daughter of Charlotte and Mark- born May 17-2003 died May 22-2003. _Mark hands Charlotte the flowers and she places them in a vase built into the headstone. "These are for you my baby girl. I'm sorry I haven't been here to see you, but I always loved you." Tears stream down Charlotte's face. Mark pours water in the vase and then pats Charlotte's back. Charlotte sits down on the ground in front of the headstone and Mark sits along side her. Neither of them say anything as they pluck out little weeds that have grown around the headstone. They sit there and pluck for half an hour until every weed is gone. They get up to leave and Charlotte looks back one more time to say goodbye.

Charlotte's still teary as they get in the car. Her cell phone rings.

"_Hello"_ She answers clearing her throat and swallowing.

"_Charlotte are you okay? You sound funny." _Cooper asks with concern in his voice.

"_I'm okay just tired._" She's lying; she can't tell him she's _crying_ because she just visited her daughter's grave.

"_Where are you? I called the hospital and they said you were discharged yesterday."_

"_I tried to call you but you were seeing patients."_ She was avoiding calling him because she knew he wasn't going to be happy to find out she was staying with Mark .

"_I tried calling you at your momma's but nobody picked up and your cell phone went to voicemail." _Cooper explains.

"_I hadn't charged it while I was in the hospital so the battery was dead. I just charged it last night."_ Charlotte explains.

"_Why didn't anyone pick up at your momma's house? I was worried about you. I almost called Mark to see where you were."_ Cooper lectures.

"_I'm staying at Mark's." _Charlotte holds her breath and waits for his reaction.

"_What? Why?"_ Cooper's clearly surprised and not happy about it.

"_Because momma's house is two hours away and Amy's not home. Mark wanted me to stay close to the hospital in case I had a problem."_

"_Mark wants you to stay close to him! Don't tell me there aren't any hospitals in Monroeville by your momma's house!_" Cooper's yelling into the phone and Mark can hear him as he's driving.

"_Yes there are hospital's closer to momma's house but they don't know me and my situation or have my endoscopy films like Mark does. He did the surgery." _Charlotte tries to remain calm with Cooper.

Cooper's shouts in the phone "_That's bullshit Charlotte. He wants you. I hear him calling you sunshine all the time and….."_

Mark pulls the phone out of Charlotte's hand _"If you've got a problem with me you talk to me. You don't yell at my wi….at my ex-wife."_

The phone clicks and Mark hands it back to Charlotte. "Cooper hung up."

"Great now Cooper's gonna go all ballistic on me _again_ because of you." Charlotte shoves the phone in her pocketbook. "I should've never answered the damn phone."

"What do you mean _again_?" Mark looks at her and then back at the road as they drive home.

"He has a temper. When I told him I was married before he barely talked to me for weeks and then we had a confrontation at work and he let it all out. Called me a bitch among other things." Charlotte wrinkles her mouth up and sighs. "I should've just stayed in the hospital. Not gone back to the house with you." She looks out the window.

"Weren't you more comfortable last night in your own bed?"

"It's not _my bed_ anymore but _yes_ I was more comfortable than I was at the hospital."

"Don't let that idiot dictate what you can and can't do. Are you happy I took you to see Lili?" He asks looking at the road.

"Umhmm" She looks over at him and nods her head yes.

"Then you have nothing to regret for staying with me. We did nothing wrong and we did everything right today. Don't let that idiot ruin it for you." Marks keeping his eyes stright ahead on the road.

"He's _NOT_ an idiot. He's my fiancé. I should have told him I was going to stay with you before I was discharged. I didn't because I knew he would be upset but I should've just told him."

"You've been bitten hard by the love bug Sunny if your willing to take all that garbage from this guy."

"I took worse garbage from you. You cheated on me; at least Cooper never did that. He's emotional and he's got a temper but he's no cheater." Charlotte folds her arms and stares ahead.

"Okay truce Sunny. If you love this guy then it's not my business. Let's just have a truce between you and me. Can you do that?" He hates seeing her so upset and understands now how she got that ulcer.

She looks at him and concedes a smile "Truce" she says.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Cooper walks into the kitchen at Oceanside Wellness, grabs his brown bag lunch out of the fridge and plops himself down in the seat next to Violet. Violet and Sam are eating their salads and talking while Addison is drinking a green health shake. "Hey Coop have you heard from Charlotte yet?" Violet asks innocently.

"Yeah. I heard from her." Cooper answers louder than he needs to as he slams his lunch bag on the table causing Addison to turn and look.

"Well is she okay? You seem upset about something." Violet says as she puts a forkful of salad into her mouth. Sam just looks at him.

"You wanna know where she's staying right now?" Cooper rips open the brown paper lunch bag.

"With her... mother?" Violet asks hesitantly.

"No, not with her mother, with Mark that arrogant ex-husband of hers." He rips open the tin foil revealing his sandwich.

"Why?" Violet asks as she watches him.

"She says _he_ wants her to stay close to the hospital in case she has a problem." He takes an aggressive bite out of the sandwich and chews hard.

"That makes sense." Addison leans up against the counter drinking her shake and adds. "It sounds like they're being cautious."

"I don't like the guy. I don't like that of all places she has to stay with him." Cooper's talking loud and fast.

"Are you worried that something will happen between him and Charlotte?" Violet calmly asks sounding more like his therapist than friend.

Cooper takes a deep breath and blows it out hard. He puts his sandwich down. "I don't expect anything like _that _is going to happen." Cooper's referring to Charlotte and Mark sleeping together. "If you saw Charlotte, how she looks now, she's so frail. She's lost weight. She's not in any shape to be doing _that_ right now."

"So then what are you so bothered by?" Sam questions as he eats his salad.

"I don't trust him, I'm not worried he's going to make a physical move on her but he still has the nerve to walk around calling her 'Sunshine' his nickname for her and when I first met him he referred to her as, _my Charlotte_, so no I don't like her staying with him."

"You think he still has feelings for her?" Violet asks using her soothing voice.

"Maybe." Cooper answers, his voice is lower and he's starting to calm down some.

"You have to be able to trust her man. You're getting married to the woman." Sam tells him.

"I trust _her" _Cooper takes a bite of his sandwich chews swallows and then. "I don't trust him."

"You said you're not worried about them getting intimate. So what are you worried will happen?" Addison asks as she takes a seat at the table across from him.

"He's worried there's still an emotional connection between them. Am I right Coop?" Violet answers pushing her salad to him to finish if he wants.

Cooper pulls the salad to himself and starts eating it. "I think they left alot unresolved when they got divorced and Charlotte, she's vulnerable right now. She's sick and alone."

"You're upset because he's the one taking care of her instead of you." Violet figures it out.

"And" Cooper answers loud holding his fork up and waving it as he speaks. "I'm not sure what his agenda is."

"You think he may want her back?" Addison asks.

"I don't know." Cooper rubs his hand over his head and rests it on the back of his neck.

"So go there. Go be with her." Addison suggests. "Go be the one to take care of her."

"You need me here, remember I flew back? You guys were swamped." Cooper puts his hand back on the table.

"I have a light schedule Friday. Take a four day weekend, Sam and I will split covering your patients." Addison sends Sam a look to say right.

"Right" Sam says "Go be with Charlotte for the weekend. Maybe by the end of the weekend she'll be ready to fly back home with you."

Cooper sighs in relief. "Thank you guys. I appreciate this. I think I'll surprise her and just show up on Friday."

The nurse shows up at Mark's house with the TPN that Charlotte still needs to receive through the PICC line. Mark lets her in and introduces her to Charlotte. "Charlotte this is Monica. She's going to hook up your TPN and stay with you for a little while. I'm going to work now." The nurse looks at him and gives him a smile. He pats her lightly on the backside as he walks out the door. "I'll see you later, " Monica the nurse tells him.

Monica makes her way over to Charlotte who's sitting on the couch. "So how are you doing today?" The nurse asks all bubbly and Charlotte wonders if this is the woman whose stuff is in the bathroom. She notices Monica is about 25 and very bubbly.

"I'm doing okay." Charlotte answers as she watches Monica flush her PICC line with some saline.

"Mark tells me you're his ex-wife." Monica says smiling. Charlotte notices she's on a first name basis with Mark. Hmmm she thinks this could be the woman he's sleeping with.

"Yes I'm his ex–wife." Charlotte holds out her arm so Monica could hook up the TPN.

"Mark tells me you're engaged again. What a beautiful ring!" Monica fusses over Charlotte's diamond.

"Yes. I'm lucky. I found a great guy." Charlotte answers.

The door bell rings. "Ugh" Monica says "It's that dog walker. She's here to walk Brandy."

"Doesn't she have a key? If she walks Brandy while Mark's at work she must need a key to get in." Charlotte looks towards the door.

"She has a key." Monica answers and huffs. "She knows to ring the bell when she sees my car here."

"I didn't know you stayed here?" Charlotte's digging for information.

"On my days off I come over and use the pool or hang out in the theater room." Monica goes to answer the door.

"I'm here to walk Brandy." A tall thin redhead about 25 tells her.

"Brandy's in the backyard. You can use the gate." Monica closes the door on the girl.

"Not a fan of hers, I take it?" Charlotte asks as Monica walks back over to her.

"No she's a slut." Monica says as she checks the IV drip. No longer in the bubbly mood she was in before the dog walker showed up.

"Hmmm." Charlotte says and she thinks she's got it figured out that Mark is probably sleeping with both of them. Once a cheater always a cheater she thinks.

"So how long have you and Mark been together?" Charlotte asks.

Monica looks at her surprised. "Mark told you about us?"

Charlotte doesn't answer she just raises her eyebrows as if to imply yes. She's suddenly curious about Mark's lifestyle since she left him.

"We've been together four years. I used to live here until that slut came along. Mark and I had a fight about her and I moved out last month."

"Are you seeing him now?" Charlotte asks curious.

"I haven't moved back in yet but we're dating again. I hate it that he keeps her around to walk Brandy."

Charlotte shakes her head. "I went through all that with Mark too. That's why I left." Charlotte tells her.

"At least you two are friends again. Mark's a good man aside from his weakness for stray women." Monica tells her sitting on the couch with Charlotte.

"He's a good guy." Charlotte says. "I'm happy Mark and I can be friends." She takes a deep breath. Now that they're friends she thinks she'll have a talk with him about how to treat women.

Next Chapter: Cooper Comes For His Surprise Visit!


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"Terrific Charlotte. You gained a pound since the beginning of the week." Monica the nurse acts excited as Charlotte stands on the bathroom scale.

"Better have, been forcin' down them hi-cal shakes until I damn near exploded." Charlotte answers stepping off the scale.

"It's working. We should be able to take you off the TPN soon." Monica pushes the scale back into the corner of the bathroom. "Let's check your incision." She lifts Charlotte's shirt and removes the bandage. There's a knock at the backdoor. "It's probably Sarah the dog walker. She's out with Brandy."

"Come in." Charlotte yells.

The dog walker calls "Brandy's got two ticks on her ear. I need some alcohol and tweezers."

Monica takes the alcohol and tweezers out of the medicine cabinet. "I don't know why she's so stupid she walks her in the woods every day. This is the fourth time Brandy's had a tick this month." Monica huffs.

Charlotte takes the alcohol and tweezers from Monica. "I'll take it outside to her. You can hook up my TPN when I get back." Charlotte goes out the backdoor. The doorbell rings. Monica hurries to answer the front door.

"Can I help you?" Monica asks the tall dark haired gentleman, noticing the suitcase set down on the stoop next to him.

"Hi, I'm Cooper Freedman. I'm looking for my fiancee' Charlotte King?" Cooper extends his hand out to shake and smiles at the young woman.

Monica shakes his hand and smiles back. "Yes. Come in. I'm Monica; Charlotte's nurse. Charlotte just stepped outside to take some ticks off Brandy." She leads Cooper into the living room and starts preparing Charlotte's TPN bag and tubing.

"Who's Brandy?" Cooper asks shrugging his shoulders. He puts his suitcase down and looks around the large house.

"Her dog... well Mark's dog... well their dog... I guess you could say...They got Brandy before they were married ...but then Charlotte left... so I guess Brandy's Mark's now ...but she loves Charlotte. If you ask me I think she remembers her... but Mark says no... that there's no way... It's been too long. ...Charlotte thinks Brandy remembers her because she wags her tail so much when Charlotte's around but Brandy gets excited like that for everyone... But don't tell Charlotte." Monica rambles on while flushing out the IV tubing. Cooper watches her.

"It looks like Mark's does well. " Cooper comments looking around.

"Mark and Charlotte bought this house before they got married. I think that's when they got Brandy too...Here I'll show you around while we wait for Charlotte to come back in. Who knows how long she'll be. The dog walker is an idiot and she's probably got Charlotte taking the ticks out of Brandy's ear." Monica leads Cooper down the hall to the theater room.

"Hmm." Cooper smirks picking up on her animosity for the dog walker. "Wow look at this room! I want one of these." Cooper marvels at the large plasma TV on the wall with all the gaming systems and the theater seats. Cooper plops himself down in one of the seats and starts pressing the buttons giving himself a massage with the chair.

"Mark just had this room made into a home theater last year." Monica tells him as she plops down in the seat next to him and starts pushing the buttons too.

"So it wasn't like this when Charlotte lived here?" Cooper asks, still playing with the seat.

"Oh no. Mark changed everything after Charlotte left. He got all new furniture. He repainted all the walls. He didn't want to look around and be reminded of Charlotte with all her stuff and all the paint colors she picked out. The only room he hasn't changed yet is Lili's room and I don't know if he ever will." Monica tells him as she reclines her seat.

"Who's Lili?" Cooper asks reclining his seat also.

"Lili the baby; so sad ya' know?" Monica answers putting her seat back up to the sitting position.

"No I don't know. Whose baby was she?" Cooper asks putting his seat straight up to a sitting position rather quickly; suspecting Lili had to be Mark's baby since it's his house, but he's not sure who the mother was.

Monica looks at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "You don't know about Lili? Aren't you going to marry Charlotte? Mark said she took it hard but wow...…"

"Just tell me about Lili." Cooper tells her; his heart's racing with suspense.

"She was their baby. She died. They never even got to bring her home from the hospital. Mark said they both took it really hard, but Charlotte worse. Man, I can't believe she still doesn't talk about it. Mark said she never wanted to talk about Lili after she died... it bothered him that Charlotte acted like Lili never happened, like she never existed. ...It put a big strain on their marraige."

Cooper just stares at Monica his mouth partially open. It's interesting to hear the other side to their marraige story or divorce story. The side Cooper had no idea about. The phone rings. "Excuse me I have to take this call." Monica leaves the room.

Cooper gets up and starts to wander around the house... He walks up the stairs... He looks in the first room he comes to. The door is open... He sees a double sized bed neatly made. There's a man's suit neatly laid out across the bed... There are medical books and charts neatly organized on the dresser... This must be the room Mark is using... He continues down the hall and passes a bathroom and then a room full of exercise equipment...He reaches the master bedroom and sees Charlotte's suitcase in the corner... He figures Mark gave it up for her...He wonders if the king sized bed is the same one Charlotte and Mark slept in when they were married or if Mark got a new one. Directly across the hall he finds a room with the door closed. ...He opens the door of the lavender painted room... He smiles right away at the colorful pony mural painted on the wall... He walks in the room and sees a bassinet... He looks inside and there are two stuffed animals and a pink baby blanket still in the packaging... must be baby gifts people gave Charlotte after she found out she was pregnant... He sits in the rocking chair and looks around... He spots a picture on the wall by the door... It's Charlotte and Mark's wedding picture... Cooper gets up to look at the picture... Charlotte's hair is long and she has spiral curls framing her face... She looks the same just ten years younger... Her face is beaming with a bright smile... Her wedding dress is not traditional and Cooper knows his mother wouldn't approve of it... It's white and strapless, the silky material clings to her body down the waist to show off her figure... The dress stops a few inches above her knees. Not your traditional gown. ..She's wearing matching open toe stilettos... The headpiece has a long train of tule flowing down and that gives the outfit the bridal look... Mark's wearing a tux with a black bow tie. He looks the same just ten years younger. ...Cooper notices that his hair is long and pulled back into a ponytail, not too long just about two inches past his shoulders... Cooper's surprised; the arrogant surgeon doesn't strike him as the ponytail type. ...Someone walks in the room.

"What are you doing in here?" Monica asks.

"Just looking at the picture." Cooper tells her. "Mark had a ponytail?"

"Yeah. ..I heard they used to be a wild bunch; Mark, Charlotte and their friends. They used to have a lot of parties." Monica tells him all bubbly. "He hung the wedding picture in here after Charlotte left . He keeps the door to this room closed all the time."

"Funny, neither one of them seem to be the wild party type anymore." Cooper answers looking at the picture.

"Losing a child does that to you. I heard it's like a part of you dies too." Monica's not so bubbly sounding anymore. "I hooked Charlotte up to her TPN downstairs. I didn't tell her you were here. I hid your suitcase, figured you might want to surprise her."

"Thanks. I do." Cooper answers. "Why'd Mark leave this room like this?" Cooper asks.

"He couldn't bring himself to paint over it. Charlotte bought the chair and Landry gave them the bassinet. Mark didn't want to get rid of 'em without telling Charlotte and she wouldn't talk to him until now."

Cooper's starting to understand why Charlotte didn't want to go back there and talk. He gets a sinking feeling in his stomach when he remembers how he treated her for not talking about it. Cooper's just staring at the pony mural.

"I told Mark he should just paint the room. It doesn't make sense to keep it this way forever, like some kind of shrine. Heck, I'd paint the room myself if he'd let me." Monica goes on.

"Hmm." Is all Cooper says looking at the lavender walls and pony mural. It doesn't surprise him Charlotte would pick a pony theme for her baby.

"Aren't you going to go downstairs and surprise Charlotte?" Monica asks.

"In a few minutes. I need to call a friend of mine first." Charlotte needs to talk about it, he's not a shrink but he knows that much is right. He takes out his cell phone and pushes the button for Violet.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Violet's just finishing up her lunch when her cell phone rings. She looks at the number. "Cooper," she smiles and says to Sam. "Hey Coop you're either calling to tell me you made it to Mark's house safe and surprised Charlotte or the address we found for him on the internet was bogus and your lost. You want me to look it up again?" Violet waits for a response.

"I made it here. I'm at Mark's."

"Sooo, tell us... Sam's here too... What did Charlotte do when you showed up at the door?" Violet can't wait to hear. Sam's listening in also.

"She doesn't know I'm here yet." Cooper answers.

"Why not? What's going on?" Violet lowers her voice.

"Nothing, she was out taking ticks off her dog when I got here so I decided to walk around and check the place out and….."

Violet interrupts, "Charlotte got a dog?"

"No, it's Mark's dog. It used to be Charlotte's dog. I don't know. I haven't even met the dog yet because you'll never believe where I'm standing." Cooper says as he looks around the nursery with the lavender walls and pony mural.

"I thought you said you were at Mark's house?" Violet's a little confused.

"I am at Mark's house but you won't believe which room I am standing in. I'm in their _**baby's room.**_" Cooper shouts the last part into the phone. Monica the nurse is standing next to him and puts her finger over her mouth to signal him to hush.

"Shhh!. Charlotte could probably hear you downstairs. I thought you wanted to surprise her." Monica admonishes her. Cooper shakes his head yes at her.

"Whose baby's room?" Violet asks, now she's more confused. Sam looks perplexed since he's listening also.

"Charlotte and Mark's baby's room." Cooper replies with his voice much lower this time.

Violet's confused and Sam's scrunches his face as if to say "what is he talking about'. Violet says, "Charlotte _doesn't_ have a baby. I've seen her at St Ambrose for the past five years and she's never been pregnant as far as I could tell." Sam shakes his head and agrees.

"She _had_ a baby while she was married to Mark and it died. Apparently Charlotte never talked about it after it happened. Mark left the room exactly the same since the day it died"

"That's so sad, poor Charlotte." Violet says and she truly means it. Sam shakes his head as if to say that's a shame. "How did the baby die?" Violet asks.

"I don't know." Cooper responds picking up one of the stuffed animals in the bassinet to look at it.

"How old was the baby?" Violet asks and Sam listens.

"I don't know." Cooper answers again.

"Then what do you know about it?" Violet's trying to figure this out.

"Hold on, I'm going to put Charlotte's nurse on the phone. She knows the whole story." Copper hands the phone to Monica and tells her. "This is Dr. Violet Turner she's a good friend and also a psychiatrist. I need you to tell her exactly what happened with the baby."

"I don't know. I feel like I would be gossiping." Monica answers.

"You're not gossiping! You need to tell her." Cooper's annoyed. This nurse has been running her mouth off ever since he got to the house and now she decides to be quiet.

She puts the phone to her ear. "Hello, this is Monica. Charlotte's nurse."

"Hello Monica. I'm Dr. Violet Turner. I'm a psychiatrist and you're _not_ gossiping. We all have the same goal. We want to help Charlotte and Mark _also_ if he needs it." Violet over heard the exchange between Cooper and Monica. "Can you please tell me the circumstances of the baby's death?"

That was all Monica needed to hear. Violet gave her permission to run off her motor mouth without the feeling guilty about it.

"Okay. I'll tell you what Mark told me because I didn't know them back then. I just know what Mark told me." Monica says into the phone. Cooper takes a seat in the rocking chair to listen.

Violet tells Sam to get her a pad of paper and a pen. "Okay I'm listening.." Violet tells her.

Monica begins pacing around the room as she talks "Mark said everything was fine until Charlotte was six months pregnant. They were happy and excited about the baby. They found out it was a girl. They picked out a name 'Lili Joe' …they painted the nursery… started buying stuff for the baby…and then Charlotte started having premature contractions… Mark said she'd been working long hours. It was during her residency.….. So they put her in the hospital… gave her IV meds to stop the contractions and put her on bed rest." Monica's pacing and Cooper's listening intensely.

Sam comes back with the pen and paper and gives it to Violet.

"Go ahead. I'm listening. Then what happened?" Violet starts taking down notes.

The IV medicine worked and they sent her home on pills to prevent contractions and she had to stay on bed rest at home. Apparently everything was good, no contractions for two weeks and Charlotte decided to get out of bed and hang a picture in the nursery that someone just gave her as a gift…. I guess she didn't think it was a big deal because she was on the pills and she didn't have contractions for two weeks". Monica goes on. Coopers listening quietly. "Her water broke while she was hanging the picture…then she started having strong contractions… Mark rushed her to the hospital and the baby was born as soon as they arrived. Mark said it happened really fast."

"How far pregnant was she now?" Violet asks taking notes.

"She was almost 27 weeks when Lili Joe was born. Lili Joe was only one and a half pounds Mark said and 14 inches long. She was so tiny."

"Was she breathing? Was she alive?" Violet asks thinking it was a still birth.

"Yes, she was alive. Mark said she let out this little kitten type cry. They let him hold her since he's a doctor but she started to turn blue so they had to intubate and put her on a respirator. She went to the NICU. Mark said Charlotte sat by her side as much as she could when Lili Joe was in the NICU holding her little hand and praying for her. Things were looking good. Mark said they were getting ready to take her off the respirato,r Mark and Charlotte were excited they would get to hold her and feed her once she was off the respirator."

"What happened? Violet asks with pen in hand.

"Lili developed an infection and her little body couldn't fight it…. It went through her system and the tests showed she had no brain activity left so they turned off the respirator and she died…. Charlotte held her while they shut it off… so she died in Charlotte's arms…. Mark said Charlotte refused to talk about Lili Joe again after the funeral…. She pretended like it never happened, like Lili never existed…. It bothered Mark and caused marital problems leading to the divorce…. I can't believe she's still denying it happened after all these years…. Good thing I didn't bring it up with her… I wonder if she would have freaked on me." Monica's beginning to sound gossipy

"Thank You Monica. You've been very helpful." Violet tells her in her therapist tone.

Monica hands the phone back to Cooper. "I better go downstairs and check on Charlotte. She's probably wondering where I am. I won't tell her you're here." Monica smiles at Cooper and leaves the room.

Cooper takes a deep breath and lets it out before getting back on the phone, he's still sitting in the rocking chair. He talks into the phone " Vi, what do you think I should do? How should I approach this with her?"

"Don't Cooper. Wait until she comes back and let me talk to her. _This_ is what _I_ do. Charlotte hasn't gone through the stages of grief yet. She's stuck in denial. If you push her to talk about it you could cause her to shutdown even more. Just let me deal with it when she comes home." Violet lecture's him. Violet knows Cooper and knows he's going to want to say something right away now that he knows.

"Do you understand me Cooper?"

"Yes Vi, I understand" Cooper hangs up. He takes a deep breath looks around the room again one last time before he walks out, shuts the door and heads towards the stairway to go downstairs and surprise Charlotte.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Charlotte's downstairs on the couch talking with Monica about the dog walker and Brandy's ticks when she hears a male voice approach her from the back.

"Good afternoon Spanky"

Charlotte whips her head around so fast that her neck hurts later. _**"Cooper?"**_ She jumps up and walks over to him, wraps her arms around his neck and presses a long hot kiss on his lips.

"Wow. If I knew this I would have came down a lot sooner." Cooper wraps his arms around his fiancee' and hugs her tight. After a minute they release the hug and Cooper kisses her this time. They feel a set of eyes staring at them, so they instinctively stop and separate a little from each other.

"Oh that's so romantic." Monica says staring at them. "Isn't it great of Cooper to surprise you?"

"Yes" Charlotte answers as she sits back on the couch. "I'm very surprised. How long have you been here? Where were you hiding out?" She asks innocently.

"He was upstairs, checking the place out while you were taking ticks off of Brandy." Monica blurts out.

"I've been back inside sitting here for at least twenty minutes. What were you doing upstairs the whole time Cooper?" Charlotte's beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable that Cooper's in her old house, in her old world. She's starting to feel like her old world and new world are colliding.

"Nothing. Just looking around." Cooper tries to act cool he doesn't want to mention he was in Lili's room.

"What were you looking at for so long?" Charlotte pushes for an answer, she suspects he looked in Lili's room.

Monica interrupts "He was on the phone with Violet talking the whole time. That's what took so long. Right Cooper?"

"Uhm right." Cooper clears his throat, looking guilty for lying. He's not a good liar.

"How do you know about Violet?" Charlotte asks Monica. Charlotte's suspicious something's up and she's pretty sure Cooper opened the door to the room. She wants to ask him what Mark did with it since she herself never opened the door, but she thought she shouldn't bring it up just in case.

"I told her about Violet. I called Violet to let her know I made it here okay and you know Violet she wanted all the details of the trip so far." Cooper hates lying to her.

Charlotte seems satisfied. The house phone rings Monica answers.

"Hi Mark… yes, Charlotte's fine, she gained a pound and Brandy had two ticks… you need to fire that stupid dog walker. Oh and you'll never guess who's here….. COOPER… Can you believe it?... He surprised Charlotte?... Isn't that so romantic of him?" Cooper and Charlotte exchange glances and smirk at each other. " Mark I have to tell you something... You're not gonna believe _this_…" She looks over at Charlotte. "Oh, I can't tell you now…. " I have to take this call in the kitchen, Monica tells Cooper and Charlotte as she walks away. Cooper's sure he knows what she's going to tell Mark.

Charlotte's sitting on the couch staring at Cooper and thinking to herself if it's him finding Lili's room that Monica wants to tell Mark about. Charlotte's convinced herself of it and she's starting to get a sick feeling in her stomach. Her heart's starting to race and she's feeling shaky. She starts moving around restlessly to try and get rid of this feeling. She feels her eyes getting teary. She can't control the trembling either. Cooper notices the tears in her eyes. "What's wrong ? Are are you crying?" He asks and sits down next to her on the couch. She has a startled expression on her face and answers, "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Cooper looks at her and wipes a tears away with his thumb.

"Can you not ask questions and just hold me!" She tells him and it sounds more like an order.

"Okay" Cooper does as told, he wraps his arms around her and she rests her head on his shoulder. He leans against the back of the couch with her leaning on him. He can feel her body trembling. "Charlotte what's wrong?" He's never seen Charlotte like this before.

"No questions. Just hold me, damn it!" She barks at him in a tone that sounds mean and bossy but Cooper knows her; that Charlotte's covering up for how she really feels. He'll hold her for as long as she needs him to. Charlotte's scared, she doesn't like not being able to control her emotions. She hates it that she cries and shakes when she thinks about Lili and that is why she doesn't talk about it.

Monica comes back from the kitchen where she took the phone to talk to Mark in private. She looks at Cooper. "I told Mark you were here so Mark's going to be staying at my place tonight. He figures you could look after Charlotte."

"Fine." Cooper answers still holding Charlotte in his arms. Charlotte's quiet now almost as if she is sleeping.

"Geez you guys need to get a room." Monica jokes looking at Charlotte buried in Cooper's arms. "Oh that's right, you guys have Mark's room to yourselves tonight."

Cooper doesn't find her amusing. "She's not feeling well." He answers.

Monica jumps into action and gets in her nurse mode. "I didn't realize. I thought you just missed each other." She takes Charlottes pulse and respirations. "Her heart rate is elevated and her skin's clammy. I better call Mark and see what he wants to do. What happened when I was out of the room?"

"Nothing" Cooper tells her "She just started crying and shaking out of the blue." Cooper's still holding Charlotte who is now almost asleep in his arms.

Monica leaves the room and comes back about five minutes later. "Mark says it sounds like another panic attack. We have to keep her calm and have her take deep breaths."

"She's asleep now but what so you mean _another_ panic attack?" Cooper's concerned.

"Mark said she had one with him the other day. He sat with her and had her take deep breaths until she calmed down." Monica explains.

Cooper takes a breath. Charlotte never had panic attacks in LA. Something here was causing it. He looks up the stairs in the direction of the baby's room and figures that must be it. He promised Violet he wouldn't talk about it. I'm going to bring her up to her bed now since she's sleeping can you carry up her IV bag?"

"Yeah sure." Monica tells him as she picks up the IV bag and holds it as Cooper carries a sleeping Charlotte up to bed.

Cooper places her down on the king sized bed and watches her sleep. He thinks if he told her about _his_ secret she might feel better. He thinks about calling Violet to ask if it would help Charlotte, if he told her he had a secret also, but then he would have to tell Violet too. This was something he didn't tell anyone . The only people who knew about it were Cooper and his ex-girlfriend Jordana.

**Thanks for the reviews. They inspire me to keep on writing!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Cooper's sleeping in the king sized bed next to Charlotte when he feels something furry lay against his legs he jumps up sees a big yellow lab laying cross him and says "You must be Brandy. I heard about you." Cooper puts his head back on the pillow and tries to go back to sleep. He wonders if this bed is the same one Charlotte shared with Mark with when they were married. Charlotte's moving around restless in her sleep, she stretches her legs. One leg hits into something. She turns over on to her side and sees there is someone sleeping next to her in the bed. It's pitch dark in the room since it's 2am. She sits up in bed to try to get a better look and discovers its Cooper. She lets out a sigh of relief. She thinks how surreal it is to be sleeping in the bed with Cooper that she and Mark bought when they first married. It's strange. She flops down on her back and rests her head on the pillow. Charlotte's wide awake now. She's been asleep since late in the afternoon when Cooper carried her upstairs. "Cooper are you awake?"

"Hmmm?" He mutters.

"Are you awake?" She asks him again.

"I think so." He says sleepily

"How did we end up in bed?" She doesn't think Cooper would like it if he knew they were sleeping in the same bed she shared with Mark.

He turns onto his back, stretches his arms and answers. "I carried you up. You feel asleep downstairs." He yawns. He remembering her panic attack." I want to take you home. There's something about this place."

"I wanna talk to you about that.. " She leans in closer to him and puts her hand on his chest.

"You don't need to tell me anything now. Let's wait until we're home." He remembers how Violet said not to talk to her about it, that Violet is the professional and to let her handle it.

"I 'm glad you came back. I missed listening to you breathe next to me in bed and waking up to your face." Charlotte slowly rubs her hand on his chest making little circles with her fingers.

"Hmpf" Cooper's surprised to hear this from Charlotte "I won't tell Violet or anyone how much you missed me. Your secret's safe with me." He gives her a gentle squeeze and smiles. He's not used to Charlotte being so open.

"I never told you and I should have. I mean about Mark and everything. I should have told you." Charlotte's quietly talking with her hand still on his chest.

Cooper turns on his side and faces her. He puts his hand on her waist. " There are things I haven't told you either."

She stares at him. "Are ya' gonna tell me?" Charlotte takes her hand off his chest and keeps it tucked in to her chest. She clenches her jaw tight.

"I' ll tell you." Cooper notices Charlotte doesn't like being on the opposite side of the stick. "Remember that girl I took to Maya's wedding as my date; Jordana?" Cooper asks as he rubs Charlotte's arm.

"The one with the accent? How could I forget." Charlotte didn't care for Jordana from the moment she laid her eyes on her.

"We went to medical school together. I helped her out; did a few papers for her and we started dating. I thought I loved her." Cooper confesses.

"Your first true love?" Charlotte's softening.

"I was head over heels for her, but she never loved me." Cooper answers gently caressing Charlottes shoulder.

"Did she tell you she never loved you?" Charlotte asks feeling sympathy for Cooper. She figured he was unlucky in love until he met her.

"After we started dating, she moved in with me. I didn't know it at the time but she was using me. I paid for everything, the rent, the bills. I did her papers for her. She never did anything for me. I was in love with her but then she did something that I couldn't forgive her for." Cooper's still rubbing Charlottes arm. He's wearing that sad puppy expression that makes Charlotte melt. She puts her hand back on his chest and rubs it gently.

"She cheated on you?" She wishes she could scalp Jordana for hurting Cooper, even though she didn't know him then.

"No, ...She had an abortion and never told me. I was looking for something and found the discharge papers from the abortion clinic in her drawer. She never even told me she was pregnant." Cooper still has the sad expression on his face so Charlotte gives him a quick peck on the lips.

"Did you confront her with it?" Charlotte asks.

"We had a huge fight about it. She told me it was her right as a woman to have the abortion. She didn't want the baby. I could understand her not being ready to have a baby but she should've told me. I would have raised it. You know how I feel about kids Char. I always wanted a family and Jordana knew that. She never loved me. That's why when you fell in love with me I was so over the moon happy about it. You were the first woman I loved to love me back. When you told me you were married before and kept it a secret for two years, I felt like my bubble was burst again. I felt like I couldn't trust you, like I never really knew you."

"I'm sorry." She says softly and means it. She gently rubs his chest with her fingers. "How'd she end up as your date at the wedding?" Charlotte asks.

"Time heals things. After medical school we went our separate ways. A few years later I saw her at a medical conference and she sat next to me. She was happy to see me again. I couldn't be angry anymore. Time softened the blow and we became sex partners. We would get together for sex whenever she was in town. There was never any emotional connection; not from me anyway. I wasn't going to let myself be fooled by her again.

"How about from her side?" Charlotte asks softly.

"I don't think Jordana is capable of loving anyone but herself. I stopped seeing her after I met you. I told her I met someone and we wouldn't be able to rendevous anymore when she came to town."

"That's why she dumped the plate of bruschetta on me?" Charlotte surmizes.

"Uh yeah," Cooper chuckles a little, earns himself a playful smack on the chest "I found out she was in town at the time of Maya's wedding. Violet told me you were bringing Scott to the wedding as your plus one so I brought her there. I wanted to see your reaction to me dating her." Cooper confesses.

"I knew it." Charlotte lifts her head up from his chest, looks at him and smirks.

"So you see, Charlotte you're not the only one with secrets." He pulls her in and squeezes her tight.

"I think you may have an idea of what else I didn't tell you." Charlotte looks him in the eyes then rests her head back down on his chest..

"Don't know what you're talking about." He does, but he doesn't want to talk about it until they're in LA with Violet. Violet's the psychiatrist and she'll know how to handle it.

"Did you open the door of the room across the hall?" She asks him flat out. He's at a loss for words. He doesn't want to lie. So he says nothing. "Answer me Coop. Did you open the door?" Her voice is firm.

He takes a deep breath and figures she's not letting this go so he answers "Yes".

"I thought so. What was in there? What did it look like?" Her head is still on his chest and he's rubbing her back.

"We shouldn't talk about this now Charlotte."

"Tell me Cooper. Did Mark change the room? What's in the room?" Charlotte's sounding louder and demanding to know. She lifts her head off his chest and looks him in the eyes.

Cooper thinks about what Violet told him that he shouldn't talk about this with Charlotte that he should leave it to her since she's a psychiatrist.. "No Charlotte I'm not going to tell you." He answers.

"Fine." She jumps up quickly, gets out of bed and tells him. "If you won't tell me, I'll go look myself." She marches toward the door and out into the hallway. Cooper jumps out of bed and follows her when he gets to the hall he sees Charlotte open the door to the nursery. He gasps.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Charlotte's standing in the nursery staring at the pony mural painted on the lavender wall when she feels Cooper's presence in the room. He's standing a few feet behind her. She doesn't turn around to look at him. Charlotte's still staring at the mural; she says. "This was suppossed to be her room."

"It's a nice room. I like the mural. It's so... you." Cooper answers. He's nervous that she's going to lose it right here, right now.

"She never got to see it, never got to see her pony mural like she was suppossed to." Charlotte answers in a calm voice.

"At least you got to meet her, you got to touch her, you knew she was a girl. I sometimes wonder about my child Jordana aborted if it was a boy or a girl." Cooper's trying to point out the advantages.

She spins herself around quickly and now she's facing him. She raises her voice, "You _think_ it's better that I got to sit there and watch her die, that I pumped breast milk every few hours for a baby who I never once got to feed, a baby that I never got to hold until they removed her ventilator, so she could die in my arms. _That's_ better?" She stands there glaring at him with her jaw open waiting for an answer.

He's not sure "uh... well.. uhmm... you got to see her... I never saw mine, at least you know what she looked like..."

She cuts him off and starts shouting, "ARE YOU DENSE? I watched her suffer. I watched my baby's tiny chest move up and down with a machine breathing for her. She was _one and a half_ pounds COOPER!... It was _pathetic_... I couldn't do anything to help her... I tried, I tried... All I could do was sit there and pray." She spins back around and is facing the mural again, she starts punching the wall her with her fist. "IT"S NOT FAIR," she yells as she puches the wall. "IT SUCKS, LIFE SUCKS." She's punches the wall over and over with her fist and kicks the wall hard with her foot now too, as she yells WHY ME...? WHY MY BABY...?

Cooper grabs her from behind with both his arms and pulls her away from the wall. She thrashes in his arms trying to pull away. He wraps his arms around her as tight as he can until she stops and is quiet. "Shh, Shh, calm down" he says to her and he kisses the top of her head. He brings her to the rocking chair and he sits down on it, pulling her onto his lap.

"Ow! Damn it!" She says as she pulls up her shirt and rips off the bandage to her incision. "I think I pulled a couple stitches."

"Let me see." Cooper says as he gently looks at the insicion wound."Yeah... I'd say so, it's bleeding a little."

"I'll call Mark." Charlotte says as she presses the bandage back down on the incision.

"Uh...no... He's at his girlfriends. I don't think she'd appreciate his ex-wife calling him in the middle of the night especially when her husband to be is a doctor quite capable of taking care of this." Cooper pats at her incision.

"I didn't mean it like that. He did the surgery." Charlotte gets up off his lap

"You just need a couple of stitches. I'm a pediatrician. I can handle it. Come on let's see where Mark keeps his medical kit." He takes Charlotte's hand and leads her out of the room. They find a medical kit in the bedroom. Charlotte lies on the bed and Cooper sits next to her. He gently cleans the wound and begins suturing.

She starts talking softly, "It didn't end after she died... Nobody could really understand. ...I still had milk coming in... My breasts were full of milk and there was no baby to feed it to... Lili was buried in the ground and I couldn't deal with it... I didn't want to deal with it."

"I wish I knew you then. ..You shouldn't have had to suffer alone." Cooper's tries to be as gentle as possible with the sutures as Charlotte grimaces.

"I wasn't alone... I had Mark and Amy, my parents; even my brother's were there for me. ...Someone was always with me 24 hours a day seven days a week for the first month after the funeral... They wanted me to talk about it. ...I didn't want to... Still don't wanna... .It took a toll on Mark that I wouldn't talk about Lily... He wanted to talk about her all the time. ...He took pictures of her at the hospital, I wouldn't look at 'em... It put a strain on our marraige and next thing I know Amy's telling me he got our friend Gina pregnant... That was the last straw... I couldn't deal with the idea of him having a baby with someone else after we lost _our_ baby... So I left... no forgivin',... no second chances for that... I went to my parents... Momma gave me some of her sleeping pills that first night and before you know it I was addicted, taking em all day and all night... All I wanted to do was sleep. I didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to think about Lili or Mark and his new baby. Just wanted to stay in bed and sleep, so I popped those pills all day long." Charlotte's talking calm, telling her story, no tears this time as Cooper's suturing the wound.

"So what happened? How'd you get off the pills?" He never knew she was addicted to pills. This explains why she was sympathetic to that pill popping, Dr. Scott, she dated briefly. Cooper remember's her saying to him in the church that "life's hard, you shouldn't judge, sometimes people need a crutch." as he waited for Jordana to show up. Now he knows she was talking to him about herself.

"Big Daddy sent me to the best rehab he could find. I got straight and then moved to LA. I never talked about it again, until that night I decided to tell you I was married before and you know the rest." She's starting to feel tired. Talking about this is exhausting her but at least she's calm, Cooper thinks.

"This is good Charlotte. This is really good. You're making progress. You were stuck in denial, I just saw you go through anger and acceptance, you know the stages of grief." Cooper tells her almost congratulating her.

She lifts her head off of the pillow and tells him "Ya sound like Sheldon and Violet. Stop shrinkin' me."

"It's good Charlotte. You can move on. It'll be good for you when you're pregnant with our baby. It'd be hard to not think about it while you were pregnant with our baby."

She looks at him and presses her lips together in a small smile.

Cooper smiles back and remembers he's leaving soon. "I'm leaving on Monday but I'm not leaving without _you_. I don't care what Mark says. We could give you the TPN at home, there's no reason you need to stay here."

"I'll go home with you after I take care of something here first" She watches him finish up the stitches."It's been one helluvaday; huh?" Charlotte asks him as she lies her head on his chest.

"But a productive one." He rubs her back and as they fall asleep, Charlotte thinks about what she needs to do before going home.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Charlotte's in the kitchen finishing up boiling the lobsters while Cooper's out back grilling the steaks. Mark and Monica come into the kitchen. "I guess I should say thank you for inviting me to dinner at my own house" Mark grins.

What's on the menu?" Monica asks.

"Surf and Turf" Cooper says as carries in a plate of freshly grilled steaks.

"Yum, what's the occasion?" Monica asks eyeing the lobsters Charlotte's just pulling out of the pot.

"It's our way of thanking you and Mark for letting us stay here and everything you've both done for Charlotte." Cooper puts the steak on the table.

"I can't wait to dig in. Mark said you were an excellent cook." Monica says looking at Charlotte.

"Me?" Charlotte questions in surprise. "Mark's the one who taught me how to cook lobster. He was the cook when we were married."

Monica looks at Mark "Mark you told me your ex wife was an incredible cook."

"That was Julia not Charlotte." Mark answers and tosses Cooper a beer.

"You got married again after me?" Charlotte's mouth is open and she stares at him waiting for an answer.

"Maybe he was married _before_ you and didn't tell you... Wouldn't that be ironic?" Cooper gives Charlotte a devilish grin. Charlotte glares at Cooper and puts a plate down on the table heavy handed; she's about to say something to Cooper.

Mark interrupts before Charlotte can get any words out. "I remarried after I signed our divorce papers." Mark reassures Charlotte.

"I'm surprised Amy never mentioned it." Charlotte puts the lobster on the table feeling pretty shocked by the news.

"Amy and I haven't been on speaking terms since you divorced me. I doubt Amy even knows." Mark sits down at the table with his beer.

"You see each other at the hospital she must have heard." Charlotte questions.

"It's a big hospital Charlotte. I don't run into Amy much. We have different specialties and besides I eloped in Vegas. We didn't have a big wedding. It was low key and we divorced less than a year later so I doubt Amy knew. Pass the lobster please." Mark tells Cooper.

"You eloped in Vegas?" Cooper passes the lobster and thinks about the time he almost eloped in Vegas with Charlotte.

"Yup, big mistake. We jumped into it too fast." Mark cracks open his lobster.

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you get divorced?" Cooper asks.

"Because he met me." Monica boasts and smiles holding up her fork.

"Tell me you didn't cheat on your second wife too?" Charlotte looks at Mark.

"Then I won't tell you." Mark answers. "I haven't advanced you to a regular diet yet, what are you eating over there?" Mark asks looking at Charlotte's plate.

"I'm tasting some lobster, it's soft and Cooper made me twice baked potatoes." Charlotte answers.

"I made the potatoes and vegetables ultra soft, like there's a baby in the house." Cooper says and everyone gets silent for a minute. Cooper tries to change the subject to cut the tension now in the air. "So, Mark's been divorced twice for cheating. That doesn't bode very well for you." He looks at Monica and jokes.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Mark holds his hand up to Cooper. "Not necessary man."

"I was just joking." Cooper answers but its true Mark did get divorced twice for cheating.

"Mark knows not to cheat on me or I'll castrate him. I told him after I caught him with Sara the dog walker a couple months ago." Monica looks at Mark. "Right honey?"

"Right. Now can we change the subject?" Mark asks as he puts a forkful of steak in his mouth.

Cooper begins "I'm leaving Monday. Charlotte wants to come home with me. We can give her TPN and everything she's getting here, in LA. She runs a hospital. We have access to everything she'll need for her care. Give me a list of what she needs." Cooper explains looking at Mark.

"That's fine. Charlotte's stable enough to travel now. I don't see any reason why she can't fly home with you Monday. You'll need to monitor her weight gain and wean her off the TPN as she gains weight. You know to keep an eye on the incision" Mark says as he enjoys his meal.

"That's right. Charlotte ripped her incision open a little last night I had to suture it back up." Cooper adds as he cuts his steak.

"Do you need me to take a look at it ?" Mark asks Cooper.

"No, I'm a pediatrician. I'm quite competent with sutures. I just checked it again this morning…."

Charlotte cuts him off "Can you two not talk about me as if I'm some invalid that's not sitting at the table with you!" Charlotte snaps. "I'm a doctor. I can mange my own heath care." She grumps and gives them both an annoyed look.

Cooper and Mark look at each other and decide to shut up.

After a few moments Cooper says "Charlotte and I were talking last night and there is something we would like to do if it's okay with you Mark." Cooper looks at Charlotte.

Charlotte looks a little nervous to say it but says "We want to paint Lili's room before Cooper and I leave. " Charlotte looks at her plate as she talks, not sure of how Mark will react. Mark says nothing just continues to chew his steak.

"I told you that would be a good idea Mark." Monica adds "You can't keep the room like that forever. It's been seven years. I think if we each paint one wall it will make it easier."

Mark swallows and looks at Charlotte. "Who paints over the pony mural? Who paints that wall?"

"I will." Cooper answers. If it makes it easier, I'll paint that wall. We'll take some pictures of the pony mural first maybe you can make a scrap book."

"I have one." Mark answers. "I have Lili's pictures in it along with her footprints and the baby hat she wore in the hospital."

"I'd like to see it." Charlotte tells him and she notices she's not tearing up this time. It's getting easier to talk about Lili without crying anymore.

"That'd be great" Mark smiles at her. "So we'll at meet tomorrow at noon in the nursery. Does that sound good?"

"Sounds good." Charlotte answers.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Charlotte and Cooper are waiting outside the nursery, dressed in old shirts of Marks to paint in . After a few minutes Mark and Monica come up the stairs. Monica's carrying a bottle of wine and a basket of cheese and crackers. Mark's carrying four glasses and a blanket. They all walk in the nursery where Cooper's already set up the paint and painting supplies.

"What's with the wine and crackers?" Cooper questions.

I figured it'd make it easier if we all had a little wine and made a toast before painting the room, to make it special." Monica helps Mark spread the blanket on the floor.

"Sounds good to me." Cooper sits down on the blanket grabs the bottle of wine to look at and then starts pouring." Charlotte sits next to him. Cooper hands her a glass of wine and she starts drinking immediately.

"Who wants to give the toast?" Monica asks holding up her glass of wine.

"I will." Mark answers and they all hold up their glasses. "To Lili... our precious baby girl... you will always be with us." They all clink glasses and sip the wine.

"I'd like to make a toast." Cooper announces "To starting over fresh. Here's to new beginnings!" They clink glasses and sip their wine. Cooper gives Charlotte a quick soft kiss on the lips.

"That's so romantic." Monica says "Why can't you be romantic like Cooper?" She looks at Mark and Mark shoots Cooper a glare.

"We should get started." Charlotte stands up still holding her wine and reaches for a paint roller.

"This was a good idea your friend had Cooper?" Monica says as she grabs a paint roller.

"What are you talking about? What friend?" Charlotte looks at her with her face a bit scrunched in confusion.

"Cooper's friend Violet.. It was her idea to paint the nursery." Monica blabs.

"It was my idea.. I thought of it the other night after I saw the nursery...How does Violet even know about the nursery?" Charlotte looks at Cooper.

Monica answers. "I told her…. Well… Cooper told me to tell her…to help you…she's a psychiatrist."

"I know what Violet is." Charlotte grumbles as she slams her paint roller on the ground and huffs out of the room.

"Charlotte!" Cooper and Monica both call as she storms out the door.

"I'll go talk to her." Mark holds his hand up to Cooper who is starting to follow Charlotte.

Charlotte's sitting on the bed she picks up some laundry out of the basket and starts folding it quickly.

"What's wrong Sunny?" Mark sits on the bed next to her.

"Nothing's wrong! Everything's just dandy." Charlotte slams the folded shirt down on the bed.

"Your upset Cooper told Violet about Lili?" Mark asks.

"It's none of Violet's business. She got as big a mouth as your girlfriend. I don't need the whole damn town knowin' my business." She slams a folded towel down.

"Yes you _do_. It's good that she tells people, that people know about Lili. You certainly can't bring yourself to talk about it and people should know. People'll be more likely to give you a break when you're grouchy if they know your situation." Mark starts folding laundry with her. "Or else they'll just think you're a bitch without a cause"

Charlotte gives him a small smile. "They already think that... Is that what they think about you too?... I noticed you can be an arrogant ass at work."

"The people that know my story understand and the rest well; I don't really care what they think about me." He tells her as he folds a towel.

"What happened to us?... We used to be so much fun... We used to be.. well_...nice."_ Charlotte asks him as she folds a shirt. She's calmed down and is folding at an even pace now.

"We were dealt a bad card in life, Sunny. What happened with Lili wasn't fair and we have a right to be angry about it, but we've both found fantastic people that love us. We need to move forward and let ourselves be happy people again." Mark puts his hand on hers.

"Can I tell you something?" Charlotte asks.

"Anything Sunny." Mark answers still holding his hand on top of hers.

"It's Violet. Cooper tells her everything. I'm gonna be his wife. He shouldn't be tellin' her personal things about me. It's not right." Charlotte's sounding whiny and she knows it.

"He told her because she's a psychiatrist and he thought she could give him advice, which she did. I think it was a great idea she came up with that we each paint a wall together. Don't you?" Mark asks looking her in the eye.

"I thought of that idea myself. I didn't need her to think of it, besides Cooper would have told her anyway. He tells her everything." Charlotte's still whining.

Mark holds her hand and tells her "Cooper's the type of person that needs to talk. You've always been closed up. Talk to Cooper and he'll open up and tell you things. Tell him to talk to you, not Violet."

Charlotte nods her head yes. "We better get back in there before they end up painting the room by themselves."

"And Charlotte... you could always talk to me." Mark tells her as he pats her on the backside as they walk back to the nursery.

Charlotte smacks his arm for that. "And you Mark, you better not cheat on Monica or you'll have to deal with me because I plan on keepin' in touch." She smiles at him as they walk back in the nursery.

"Everything okay?" Cooper asks as he paints the trim with a small brush.

"Will be soon enough." Charlotte says as she grabs a paint roller and rolls it down Cooper's back. It's a good thing he's wearing an old shirt of Marks for painting.

"Hey! You're gonna get it now Spanky." Cooper takes his paint brush and grabs Charlotte as she tries to get away. He paints a line across her chest. Good thing she's got on a painting shirt too.

Charlotte grabs the paint brush away from him and paints over his chest with it. Cooper grabs Charlotte and hugs her pressing a big kiss on her lips.

Mark shakes some wine at them. "Get back to painting or I'll put the hose on you."

"This is turning out to be more fun than I thought." Monica says.

**Thank you to all of you that take the time to review. :)**


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Charlotte and Cooper are on a plane heading back to LA from Alabama. The flight attendant finishes her announcements and they are free to take off their seat belts and move around the planes' cabin.

"Meet in the bathroom?" Charlotte gives Cooper a sly look.

"NO,... No" Cooper looks at her. "What's wrong with you? You're still recovering from surgery. We can't do that in a tight toilet closet." Cooper answers.

"We could play "naughty flight attendant and the horny pilot." Charlotte whispers in his ear nipping at it as she whispers.

"We never did it on a plane before." He thinks a minute. "Not today,... not now. ...If we do and your your incision rips open again….. No Char. Not today." He answers as she discretely rubs her hand against his inner thigh. "Stop it. Behave yourself on the plane." He scolds her with a smile and pushes her hand away.

Charlotte pouts. "You used to be fun."

"I'm still fun! We could do it on the plane on our honeymoon. It's the first thing we'll do after the plane takes off." Cooper kisses her nose. She loves that.

"Fine" Charlotte answers. " I guess we should start planning the honeymoon and wedding now that you met my family and all."

"The 'and all' you're referring to mean Mark and Monica?" Cooper asks popping gum in his mouth.

"That was odd meeting up with Mark and all." Charlotte answers.

"I don't think it was odd at all, I think it was fate. I think fate intervened and allowed me to meet them." Cooper chomps on his gum.

Oh please... Fate?... Don't go all sappy on me Coop." Charlotte looks at him "And stop chewing like a pig." Charlotte tells him straight out.

"I'm not chewing like a pig." Cooper defends himself as he chomps loudly on his gum..

"Yes, you are." Charlotte shoots back at him. "The whole plane can hear you chomping on that gum. Chew it right or spit it out." Charlotte holds out her hand but Cooper keeps his gum.

"As I was saying, I think it was fate that intervened so I could meet Mark and find out about Lili, because you never would have told me on your own." Cooper's still chomping.

"I don't like talkin' Coop... You know that... but I'm tryin'... I am." Charlotte answers.

"I know you're trying and you have to. It's not a choice anymore. It's affecting your physical health. You need to talk to me and if not me then Violet." Cooper lectures.

Charlotte takes a deep breath and sighs. "I'll talk to Sheldon before Violet." Charlotte answers.

"Sheldon? No not Sheldon. Talk to me or Violet." Cooper responds defensively.

"Sheldon's a good listener and he cares about me." Charlotte answers.

"What about me? I love you and you can talk to Sheldon but not me?" Coopers on defense.

"Everything I tell you, you go and repeat to Violet... The town crier." Charlotte answers.

"Violet's my best friend." Cooper retorts.

"And Sheldon's my friend." Charlotte tells him and it's getting heated.

"The difference is I never slept with Violet. You can't say the same about Sheldon." Cooper looks her in the eyes and shakes his head at her.

"It was just sex to help me get over you. I was never interested in Sheldon for anything more." Charlotte answers.

"Still, Sheldon wants you. He's not happy about our engagement so I don't want you talking to him." Cooper answers.

"You can't tell me who to talk to, that's like me sayin' you can't talk to Violet anymore. If I can't talk to Sheldon then you can't talk to Violet." Charlotte turns her head and folds her arms.

"Let's drop this Charlotte. I don't want to fight with you. How about I talk to you and you talk to me?" Cooper's voice gets softer.

"That's all I'm sayin'... If we're gonna be married you should come to me with things; not Violet... And I'll tell you things if I know they're not gonna go from your lips to Violet's ears." Charlotte's voice is getting softer too.

"Okay, but I'm still best friends with Violet." Cooper tells her.

"If you're going to marry me you should be _my_ best friend Coop."

"I know and I am. You're gonna to be my wife and I can't wait for that day." Cooper answers grabbing her hand.

"I just want to know that I come first... I don't care if you and Violet are friends... I just wanna come first in your life... if I'm gonna marry you." Charlotte tells him holding his hand and looking down.

Cooper takes her chin and holds it up with his hand. He looks directly in her eyes. "Of course you come first... I thought you knew that_...You _come first to me._"_ He gives her a soft gentle kiss on the lips. After the kiss he tells her. "I love you... I know things haven't been great for us these past few months, before we got engaged... But I love you and Charlotte I learned over those months how much I can't live without you. I was miserable the entire time we were apart."

Charlotte looks at him. "Me too. I should have bought stock in gin with the amount of martini's I drank just to get through the nights without you." They both chuckle a little.

"I promise you'll never have to do that again. I'm not going anywhere. I want to start over. I want a new beginning for us and I don't want it to _ever_ end." Cooper looks in her eyes and tells her.

Charlotte reaches up to him and plants a soft kiss on his lips. "I can do that. Now let's plan the wedding!" She smiles at him.

"This is going to be _some_ wedding with all your family and friends. They make mine look boring." Cooper tells her.

"Sometimes boring is good Coopster." Charlotte raises her eyebrows at him.


	37. Chapter 37

**CHAPTER 37**

Cooper walks in to Violet's house using his key. Charlotte's sitting on the coach watching TV while her TPN infuses in her picc line. Cooper's wearing a trench coat.

Charlotte looks up at him and laughs "What in the world have you got on? Didn't anyone tell you, it's summer time"

"I've got a surprise for you." He smirks.

"What?" She laughs. "It looks like somethin's alive under there." Charlotte notices Cooper's jacket moving.

Cooper opens his jacket and reveals a white fluffy furball of a puppy."

"Cooper? A puppy? Are you serious?" Charlotte's mouth drops open.

"I know how much you loved Brandy so I thought we should get a dog of our own. Do you like him?" Cooper brings the puppy over to Charlotte.

"He's adorable." Charlotte says as she pats the pups' head and the puppy wiggles around full of energy. "What about Violet?"

"Don't worry about Vi, I'll take care of her." Cooper says as he puts the puppy on the ground.

The front door opens and Violet walks in. The puppy bounces over to Violet full of energy nipping at the bottom of her pants. "You got a puppy?" Violet's surprised.

"Cooper surprised me with him. Isn't he cute?" Charlotte watches the puppy tug on Violets pant leg.

"Just adorable" Violet says sarcastically. "He sure is a little rascal. What's his name?"

Cooper and Charlotte look at each other like a light bulb just went off in both their heads at the same time. "Rascal sounds about right for him." Cooper answers. "What do you think Spanky?" Cooper looks at Charlotte.

"I think Rascal sounds perfect Alfalfa." Charlotte answers Cooper.

"What? You guys are weird." Violet tells them as she gently tries to shake Rascal off her leg.

"It's an inside joke." Cooper tells Violet.

"I figured that. " She tells Cooper. Violet thinks about the times she and Cooper had inside jokes. It doesn't feel good to be the third wheel.

Cooper bends down and picks Rascal up. He puts Rascal on Charlotte's lap. "Stay with Mommy. I have to get your puppy stuff out of the car."

"He's staying here?" Violet asks.

"Come walk with me, talk with me." Cooper says as he escorts Violet out to the car to get the box of puppy food and supplies.

They approach the car. Cooper opens the trunk and Violet says "It would have been nice if you checked with the home owner first Cooper. I don't have any pets."

"Awe! Come on Vi, he's cute." Cooper takes the box out of the trunk.

"Puppies destroy furniture; pee on the floor..." Violet goes on.

"Not if you train them right and I intend to." Cooper answers pulling a dog training guide out of the box and shows it to her.

"But you don't live here Coop and Charlotte's still recovering. Who's going to train the puppy and take him out to do his business in the middle of the night?"

"I'll stay here and train the puppy myself." Cooper answers.

"You're going to move in my house?" Violet quizzes him.

"Temporarily, until Charlotte and I find our own place. We're engaged. I want to be where Charlotte is." Cooper responds putting the book back in the box.

"It would've been nice if you checked with me before getting a puppy and deciding to move in my house." Violet sounds a little annoyed.

"What's this about Vi? There was a time when you wanted me to move in with you." Cooper closes the trunk of the car.

"Before you were engaged to Charlotte." Violet answers her voice softer.

"You're still my best friend." He puts his arm around her and brushes her hair off the side of her face and fixes if behind her ear.

"I know." She answers looking into his eyes.

"I'll ask you properly. Can Rascal and I stay with you for a few weeks ?" Cooper gives her a sad puppy face hoping for sympathy.

Violet nods her head yes and takes a step closer to Cooper. She wraps her arms around Cooper's neck and presses her lips into his. She has a tight grip on him.

Cooper's stunned. He pulls away after a three seconds. He wipes his mouth off on his shirt sleeve and says loudly "What are you doing?"

Violet backs up. Her voice is shaky I… I ... don't know. I thought you wanted to." She answers and takes another step back.

Cooper's waving his finger in front of her. "Charlotte's inside. What if she saw that?"

Violet's voice is still shaky. "She didn't. ..She's on the couch with her TPN and the puppy. Don't worry Cooper she didn't see us kissing. She doesn't have to know. Let's just forget it."

"We weren't kissing! You kissed me and Charlotte and I don't keep secrets anymore." Cooper tells her as he backs up further from her.

"You can't tell her Cooper. She'll hate me. "

Cooper shoves the box of puppy supplies into her arms. "Take this inside. I have to think." Cooper opens his car door and gets inside.

"What should I tell Charlotte? Where are you going?" Violet asks desperately.

"You'll think of something. I'm going for a ride..." Cooper says and then drives away.

Violet carries the box towards the door thinking about what she should tell Charlotte.

Cooper calls Sam on his cell phone to see if he'll meet him at the bar.


	38. Chapter 38

**CHAPTER 38 I'm posting chapter 38 again. I posted it yesterday and all was well until it vanished. I'm reposting it for those of you that didn't get to read it yet before I post chapter 39!**

Sam walks in to find Cooper sitting at the bar doing a shot of whiskey. "Did you and Charlotte have a fight?" Sam asks as he pats Cooper on the back and takes a seat next to him.

"No, Charlotte and I are just fine." Cooper answers.

"Then, why'd you call me? Why are you sitting here doing shots of whiskey?" Sam asks and he orders a beer for both Cooper and himself.

"Violet kissed me tonight." Cooper answers bluntly.

Sam does a double take. "Say that again."

"Violet kissed me." Cooper repeats bluntly looking straight ahead as he shoots a whiskey.

"Whew! I thought that's what you said. I just can't believe it. I mean why? Why would she kiss you?" Sam picks up the beer the bartender set in front of him.

"I don't know. I asked her and she said she thought _I _wanted to." Cooper takes picks up his beer.

"Why would she think _you_ wanted to." Sam quizzes.

"I don't know."

"How'd she kiss you? Was it a quick kiss or...?"

Cooper interrupts. "It was a huge! She wrapped her arms around my neck tight and laid one right on my lips. She practically suffocated me. I pulled away from her."

"That's bad." Sam answers. "She knows you're engaged to Charlotte."

"It _is_ bad" Cooper answers. "She crossed the line. We've always been best friends but tonight she crossed the line."

"What are you going to do about it?" Sam asks sipping at his beer.

"I don't know. I got in my car and drove off. I figured you could give me some advice." Cooper looks at Sam.

"You gotta be honest. Tell her she crossed the line and you don't want to go there with her."

"If she had done it three years ago, before I was involved with Charlotte I would've welcomed it, but not now. I thought she wanted to be with Pete." Cooper sips his beer and waves the bartender over to order another round.

"I don't think Violet knows what she wants. She wanted Pete but she comes home to find Pete with Addison with the baby. It's all a mess." Sam grabs his new beer from the bartender.

"You're with Addison now. Pete's free to be with Violet." Cooper offers picking up his new beer.

"It's not that simple. Violet and Pete have a lot of issues to work out. You're safe, so she kissed you." Sam answers.

"I don't think that's it." Cooper tells him "I think she's feeling the pressure. Charlotte and I are getting married and Violet feels it's her last shot at me."

"Hold on stud." Sam chuckles. " You think Violet's secretly wanted to be with you this whole time?"

"Could be," Cooper answers and smiles.

"I don't know. You and Charlotte were broken up for a few months, if that was the case why wouldn't Violet have made her move then?" Sam challenges him.

"There was a time we talked about being friends with benefits. She wanted to sleep with me but I called it off. I left her standing there naked."Cooper explains.

"That must have been humiliating for her."

"It was. She avoided me for a while. Things were awkward. I'm glad I didn't go through with it... I mean ... I couldn't talk about stuff with her as _just friends_ and then have sex with her like it meant nothing; like the girls I met on the internet. It was different, Violet's a good friend."

"Yeah. That'd be awkward." Sam sips his beer.

"Then I got involved with Charlotte. I fell head over heels in love, never stopped. Even when we were apart, I couldn't get Charlotte out of my mind and I tried, believe me."

"I hope you made it clear to her you're in love with Charlotte."

"I did." Cooper answers.

"Are you going to tell Charlotte about the kiss?" Sam asks.

"That's my problem. Charlotte and I promised that we wouldn't keep secrets from each other anymore, I have to tell her." Cooper answers.

"Why's that a problem?" Sam asks

"She'll skin Violet alive. She won't let me speak to Violet anymore if she knew that. Her ex-husband cheated on her. Charlotte doesn't have it in her to go through that again."

"Whoa' man. It was just a kiss. You didn't cheat on her and Violet was the one doing the kissing. Just be honest. She may be mad at Violet a while but she'll get over it." Sam advises.

"Thanks man. I needed that. I'll tell her tomorrow." Cooper takes a deep breath and gulps down some beer.

"No problem." Sam replies as he chugs down his beer.


	39. Chapter 39

**CHAPTER 39**

It's 4am. Violet awakes to the sound of a puppy whimpering in the kitchen. She turns over in bed and puts the pillow over her head. She waits a few minutes but the puppy is still whimpering. She wonders why Charlotte and Cooper aren't getting up to tend to their new charge. As the puppy continues to whine Violet wonders if Charlotte would wake up for a crying baby if she had one. Then Violet feels guilty remembering Charlotte did have a baby that died as a young infant. Violet remembers kissing Cooper last night. It was an impulse and now she regrets it. She wonders if Cooper told Charlotte about it. She didn't dare to. After the kiss, Violet went in the house,handed Charlotte the box of puppy supplies and told her Cooper went to the store for something he forgot. The puppy's still whimpering so Violet gets out of bed, puts on her robe and heads downstairs. She takes the white fur ball of a puppy outside to do his business.

"Go on Rascal do your thing. Aunt Violet is tired." Violet calls out to the puppy. She hears the back door open. Charlotte walks out in her robe.

"Sorry it took me so long. I move a little slower these days since my surgery. Go back to bed. I'll stay out with Rascal" Charlotte tells her.

"Where's Cooper? I thought it was his job to train the puppy and take him out at night?" Violet asks.

"That's a man for you." Charlotte answers. "He brings home the puppy, promises to take care of it and then takes off." Charlotte answers.

"What do you mean take off? Where'd he go?" Violet's concerned.

"I called him when he didn't come back from the store. He was at the bar having drinks with Sam. He said he was going back to his apartment tonight because it's closer. Won't cost as much cab fare." Charlotte says annoyed.

"Hmm." Violet responds. "I'm going to go inside now."

"Hold on violet. I wanted to ask you something and now is as good a time as any." Charlotte calls to her as Violet walks back towards the door.

Violet turns around a little nervous. "What Charlotte?"

"I want you to be my maid of honor?" Charlotte smiles at her.

"Me?" Violet questions. "Cooper told me you had friends and family in Alabama. Why would you ask me?"

"I have good friends but I haven't spoken to them again until recently." Charlotte answers. "It's been seven long years since I last spoke with my best friend Amy. We're friends but it's not the same. Ya' know? We're different people now. I'm still gonna have her as a bridesmaid but I feel like you know me better now. You should be my maid of honor. Besides, Amy was my maid of honor for my last wedding, figured I'd change things up a bit for this one." Charlotte smiles at Violet. "What da ya say? You're not gonna turn me down are ya?"

" No. Of course not. I'd be honored to be your maid of honor, but what about Cooper?" Violet asks.

"Cooper'll be thrilled. You're best friends. What could be better than that? His best friend as the maid of honor." Charlotte reassures her.

"Hmph." Violet thinks how she screwed up by kissing Cooper. She's worried Cooper will tell Charlotte and destroy the friendship Charlotte and Violet recently built up.

"I... I'mm going to go in now. Are you alright out here alone with the dog?" Violet asks.

"I'm fine." Charlotte answers. Violet goes back inside. Charlotte calls the puppy over. "Here Rascal come to Momma!" The little white puppy scampers up to Charlotte.

Charlotte picks up the puppy and carries him back inside. "Violet's acting a little strange tonight Rascal. Momma doesn't know why but she'll find out."


	40. Chapter 40

**CHAPTER 40**

It's late evening and the surf of the Pacific ocean are crashes onto the shore. Cooper and Charlotte walk alongside the ocean with their new pup Rascal. Cooper throws a Frisbee and the puppy scampers after it.

"He's adorable." Charlotte smiles like a proud momma.

"I'm happy that he makes you happy." Cooper grabs her hand as they watch the puppy struggle to pick the big Frisbee up in his small mouth.

Cooper takes the Frisbee from the puppy and flings it down the shoreline. The puppy chases after it. "I need to talk to you about something." Cooper tells her.

"Okay, talk to me." Charlotte responds.

"Here goes." Cooper shuts his eyes and blurts out. "Violet kissed me last night."

Charlotte's stunned, "What?" She asks.

"She kissed me when we went out to the car to get the puppy stuff." Cooper opens his eyes now to see her reaction.

"Oh." Charlotte responds.

"Oh, that's it? I tell you Violet kissed me and you say... 'Oh'." Cooper's surprised.

"I knew something happened. You just took off to meet Sam at the bar and she was acting all weird last night when I asked her to be my maid of honor."

"You asked _Violet_ to be your maid of honor? I thought you were going to ask Amy?"

Cooper throws the Frisbee again.

"I was but Amy and I haven't spoken for seven years until now. Amy knows the old me. Violet knows who I am now. It just feels right. Amy can still be a bridesmaid." Charlotte tells him.

"That's fine except Violet _kissed_ me!" Cooper emphasizes.

"I'll talk to her." Charlotte assures him.

"Are you kidding me? I thought you were going to go all crazy on me." Cooper tells her.

"Did you kiss her back?" Charlotte questions him.

"Of course not! I pulled away. I explained to her I was with you and I asked her why she did it."

"What'd she say?" Charlotte asks as they walk along the beach holding hands.

"She said she didn't know." Cooper squeezes Charlotte's hand tight. He's happy to see she's handling it a lot better than he expected.

"She's a mess right now. With everything going on with Pete being unsure if he wants to be with her or not she doesn't know if she's coming or going." Charlotte tells him.

"You're in an awfully forgiving mood tonight." Cooper tells her as they walk hand in hand along the shore.

"I'm willing to forgive it this time but it better not happen again." She looks at him.

"That sounds familiar." Cooper gives her a small smile.

"Yeah, well you taught me to forgive and I appreciate that. Besides, I have you. You're mine. I appreciate you telling me about it. It feels good." Charlotte squeezes his hand tight.

"We've both grown up a lot this past year Charlotte."

"It's about time." She laughs and this time she throws the Frisbee for the pup.

"You've got a good arm there." Cooper tells her.

"I used to pitch for my softball team in high school" She boasts.

"Really? You never told me that before. I didn't know you played softball."

"I'm opening up Coop. I played softball and soccer when I was younger and I was damn good at both of em'."

Cooper laughs. "Now I see where that competitive streak comes from. That explains a lot about Charlotte King."

Charlotte gives Cooper a playful swat and he runs away. Charlotte chases him. He stops short. "Didn't your doctor tell you no running while you're recovering?" He wraps his arms around her and playfully and picks her up.

"Put me down!" She says with a smile.

"Not yet. Tell me I'm awesome."

"Cooper! Put me down!"

"Tell me I'm awesome and you're down."

"Fine. Charlotte says under her breath "You're awesome."

"A little louder please." Cooper teases her.

"You're awesome!" She shouts and laughs.

Cooper loves to see her laugh. He gently puts her down and gives her a big kiss. Charlotte returns the kiss and holds Cooper as tight to her body as she can.

Rascal runs over and nips at their feet. A little girl on the beach looks at them and says. "Look puppy love." Cooper and Charlotte hear her and let go of each other. They look at each other and smile and continue to walk down the beach with Rascal running ahead.


	41. Chapter 41

**CHAPTER 41**

It's noon. Charlotte called Violet and asked to meet her for lunch at a quaint sushi restaurant near the office. Charlotte's already waiting at the table when Violet arrives.

Violet approaches the table. "Okay, Charlotte I'm here. What did you need to talk about?" Violet takes a seat across from Charlotte.

"Two things." Charlotte hands Violet the menu to look at.

"Okay?" Violet answers. She's nervous it's about the kiss she gave Cooper. The kiss she so badly regrets now. She's been avoiding Cooper as much as possible at work since then.

"I know you kissed Cooper." Charlotte puts it right out there.

"He told you?" Violet looks down at the table.

"It's okay Violet. I'm willin' to forgive it. Just this once."

Violet's surprised. "Charlotte I'm sorry. I don't know why I did it. Something just came over me and I did it... I kissed him... I promise you it won't happen again." Violet pleads.

"I believe you. I know you're messed up and if anyone understands that...it's me. I've been pretty messed up myself. I finally started talking about things and it feels good." Charlotte explains.

"We do have that in common. You didn't want to talk about your daughter's death and I didn't want to talk about my attack." Violet responds.

"I was never good at talkin' and expressin' even before Lili died."

"Why is that? I mean why do you think you always had trouble expressing your feelings?" Violet is slipping into her shrink mode, naturally.

"I guess I never learned it. We weren't that type of family... I didn't grow up in the Brady Bunch. ...Big Daddy never told us he loved us. ..I know he did... He showed it by working two jobs when we were little so he could buy us what we needed... He showed it by takin' us on fancy vacations and cheering me on at my softball games... When I'd hit a homerun in softball or score a goal in soccer, Big Daddy would jump up out of his seat and shout 'That's my girl! That's my kid!' Then he'd treat the team to ice cream." Charlotte explains.

"That explains your competitive streak." Violet offers as she sips from her water glass.

"I always wanted to make Big Daddy proud. I tried my hardest to score a goal if I knew Big Daddy was at the game, and I did. I always did. I wanted him to be proud of me." Charlotte answers staring into space as if she's back at her soccer game.

"I'm sure your father loved you and was proud of you Charlotte." Violet answers.

"He was. I know he was." Charlotte picks up her sushi with the chop sticks.

"What about your mother? Wasn't she affectionate either?" Violet questions.

"Momma, no... Momma took her pills and spent most of the time locked in her room with the vapors. ..Our nanny took care of us. ...Once in a while Momma would have a good day and come out and take care of us, play with us... My brothers and I cherished those days because they were few and far between." Charlotte tells her, daydreaming as she's remembers.

"What do you mean by Vapor's? Was your mother mentally ill?" Violet asks.

"It's a polite way of saying she's an addict. See Big Daddy and Momma had another child that died before I was born. The child had some form of cancer and died at the age of three. Momma took it real bad, real bad. I was born shortly after that child died. I don't remember her at all. Landry was five. He remembers her a little. We didn't dare ever ask Big Daddy or Momma about it because we didn't want to upset them. Landry remembers seeing Big Daddy cry when our sister died. That's the only time any of us saw Big Daddy cry, he was a tough man, not the type to be caught cryin'. If he ever cried he did it in private."

"Your Momma never sought any type of help? Any grief counseling after the loss of the child?" Violet asks.

"Not that I know of. I was a baby and like I said we never talked about it. I doubt she got help or she wouldn't still be popping pills and locking herself in her room with the vapors." Charlotte answers bluntly.

"That's sad Charlotte. I'm sorry for your mother, that she lost a child and had to go through it alone and I'm sorry for you that it cost you your mother; the woman she was before."

"I think about that a lot." Charlotte answers.

"Cooper's parents had a child that died before they adopted him. They had a hard time talking about it also." Violet tells Charlotte.

"Cooper told me he felt like a replacement child." Charlotte answers as she eats her sushi.

"You two really do have a lot in common." Violet says as she sips on some tea.

"We're like two peas in a pod." Charlotte answers. " Enough of this depressin' talk. After we're done here I want you to come look at some weddin' dresses with me." Charlotte tells Violet.

"That'd be great!" Violet answers. "I thought you invited me here to serve my head on a platter for kissing Cooper but instead you've been so... well... nice."

"I can be nice. Some people don't get me but... I'm nice. ...Right?" Charlotte's sounds a little insecure.

"Yes, Charlotte you're one of the nicest people I know once you open up. I'm proud to be your maid of honor. Let's hurry so we can go look for a dress that'll knock Cooper into the next dimension." Violet laughs. She's happy to have found a friend in Charlotte.


	42. Chapter 42

**CHAPTER 42**

Violet's at home training Rascal. The doorbell rings. Violet and Rascal go to the door. "Cooper. Come in."

Cooper's carrying a bag of dog treats. "I bought these for Rascal. I thought he could use some training." Cooper picks the pup up and rubs his head offering the pup a treat.

"I was just doing that." Violet tells him. "It's nice of you to give Charlotte a puppy and leave all the work and training to us." Violet says with sarcasm and pats Cooper on the shoulder.

"I know. I've been avoiding coming here. Where's Charlotte?" Cooper looks around.

"Charlotte went to the store to buy Rascal more food. It's just me and Rascal; so if you want to run, now's your chance but I promise I 'm not going to kiss you again." Violet sits down on the couch.

"About that- why'd you do it?" Cooper asks again.

"I don't know. My life's been so crazy and you're the only constant person I have. I needed to try it to make sure." Violet explains reaching over to scratch the puppies head.

"Make sure of what?" Cooper asks watching her scratch Rascals head.

"We've been best friends for so long and now, well…... You're marrying Charlotte and I felt like I might be losing my best friend. As much as my life's a mess you've always been there for me, as my guy to fall back on. No matter what else was going on with Alan or Pete, I knew you were always going to be around. But now you're not. You have Charlotte." Violet rubs the puppies belly as Cooper holds the puppy on his lap.

"I've been with Charlotte over two years already- why now?" Cooper asks.

"You're engaged. I'm losing you forever. It's a lonely feeling and I'm sick of lonely." Violet answers.

"You always have me Violet. My being engaged to Charlotte doesn't change that. Charlotte likes you. She wants you to be her maid of honor." Cooper explains resting his hand on Violet's knee.

"That's makes it worse. I don't hate Charlotte anymore; I like her. I got satisfaction to watch her get aggravated when you and I spent time together, now it doesn't give me the same satisfaction. I felt awful for kissing you. I don't want to hurt Charlotte." Violet sighs.

"So don't. No more kissing." Cooper smirks at her. "A few years ago, I would have loved it if you would've kissed me like that."

"We have terrible timing huh?" Violet smirks back.

"You know why I think you kissed me?" Cooper asks.

"Tell me." Violet sighs.

"We've both wanted to do it at some point over the past decade. You chose now because you knew it was safe. You knew I wouldn't leave Charlotte. Am I right?" Cooper asks looking at her.

Violet nods her head and tries to change the subject. "Maybe, I don't know. ..Since I'm the maid of honor, I need to plan a bridal shower. Any ideas what Charlotte would like?"

"That's not my department. I'll leave the shower and girly stuff to you." Cooper gets up. "Come on Rascal let's go for a walk."

"I'll get his leash." Violet says as she pulls the leash off of the coat rack. Violet bends down to hook the leash up to Rascals collar. Cooper bends down at the same time and they bump heads. They look into each other's eyes and it's a little awkward. They both back up.

"Okay. I'll just get going and take Rascal for a walk." Cooper tells her. Charlotte walks in the door. Cooper approaches Charlotte and presses his mouth onto hers before she can say anything. He gives her a huge, slow, deep kiss. Charlotte's aware Violet is standing there watching uncomfortably.

"What was that for?" Charlotte looks at both of them a little taken back.

"I missed you. Come on. Let's take Rascal for a walk." Cooper heads for the front door.

"Violet can you put the dog food away?" Charlotte calls out.

"No problem. Have a good time." Violet calls back to her.

As they start walking down the street Charlotte asks "Did she kiss ya' again?"

"No!" Cooper answers holding Rascals leash. "Why?"

"You're actin' funny. That kiss you planted on me as soon as I walked in. What 's going on?" Charlotte asks him holding his hand.

Cooper sighs "We bumped heads putting Rascals' leash on and it felt weird. The way she looked at me. It was weird. I backed away."

Charlotte squeezes Cooper's hand. "Maybe it was nothing. You're just on guard now." Charlotte tells him.

"You think so? Because I would hate it if Violet was into me now. It would ruin everything."

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asks.

"I mean our friendship. I couldn't be friends with Vi if she's got the _hots_ for me. I'm in love with _you."_ He looks at her.

"You're friendship will be fine. Violet just needs time to finish sorting things out. The past year's been rough for her and I know you'd never hurt me like Mark did. I trust you Coop. I have no choice but to trust you."Charlotte tells him

Cooper stops to give her a little peck on the nose which she loves. "I'm lucky to have you." Cooper tells her and then gives her a gentle kiss on the lips. Rascal yips at them and jumps on Cooper's leg. Cooper's amazed at how much the two of them have grown up since he proposed.

**...TBC...**

A/N Thanks to Scarlett 88 for being a great beta! ;)


	43. Chapter 43

**CHAPTER 43**

It's a beautiful sunny day in Los Angeles. Cooper and Charlotte are on their way to Addison's beach house. "Tell me why they invited us for lunch again?" Charlotte asks a bit suspiciously.

"They're friends. Would you stop over thinking it and just relax." Cooper tells his fiancee."

They arrive at Addison's house and Sam answers the door. Everything is quiet. "Come on in. Addison's out back waiting for you." Sam leads them through the house and out the back door.

"**SURPRISE"** Everyone shouts. Charlotte pretends she's surprised putting her hands over her mouth. Real tears come to her eyes as she's touched by the thought of everyone making such a fuss over her. Tables dressed up with white linen tablecloths surround her. Each table has a bouquet of flowers as the centerpiece. Two large white chairs are set up on the deck. Each chair has silver and white balloons tied to them. There's a large white wicker wishing well filled with presents set next to the chairs. A large banner is draped above the deck it reads _Best Wishes Charlotte and Cooper!_

Cooper gives her a soft kiss. "Surprise Char!" Charlotte tries to hold back the tears.

Addison and Violet come over to hug Charlotte and offer their congratultions.

"Thank you so much." Charlotte hugs them back.

"Thank Violet. This was her idea and mostly her doing. I just offered my house and helped her decorate." Addison pats Violet on the back.

"It's the least I can do for _my_ _friend_." Violet hugs Charlotte again.

Charlotte looks around. Everyone from Oceanside Wellness and Pacific Well care are there. She spots some nurses and doctor's from St Ambrose. Violet went all out.

Sheldon comes over with a drink in his hand. He kisses Charlotte on the cheek. "I'm happy for you." He says. "I'm always here if you ever need to talk..."

Addison interrupts and pulls Sheldon away "Alright, Alright let's go now Sheldon."

Charlotte laughs a little.

"He likes you." Violet hands Charlotte a drink.

"Sheldon's a good guy. I hope he finds someone to make him happy. He'd make a great husband." Charlotte tells her.

"Really? Why didn't you pursue things with Sheldon then if you think he's such a catch?" Violet asks as they sip their drinks.

Charlotte waves her hand, "It was just sex with us; I could never get Cooper out of my heart."

I understand that." Violet answers and Charlotte looks at her funny.

Cooper approaches them. "What are my two favorite ladies talking about?" He puts his arm around Charlotte.

"You." Charlotte answers.

Sam calls for everyone's attention as he begins his best man toast.

Sam begins:"_It's been coming along time now. Cooper and Charlotte have had their ups and downs, like the rest of us."_ He looks at Addison. _"The heart of it is Charlotte and Cooper love each other. They have a strong love, an everlasting love and I wish them a long, happy life together. Join me in a toast to this amazing couple." _Sam raises his glass.

The partygoers raise their glasses and drink to Charlotte and Cooper. The music begins to play 'At Last' by Etta James; the song Cooper played when he proposed to Charlotte over dinner. Charlotte smiles at him and he takes her arm to dance. They dance slowly. Soon there are more couples dancing. Charlotte looks around content in Cooper's arms. She watches Addison and Sam slow dance to the song and then she spots Sheldon and Violet slow dancing. Charlotte chuckles to herself. Maybe Violet could be _the one_ for Sheldon. Pete's dancing with the new receptionist.

After the song is over they mingle with guests while enjoying some appetizers. A few partygoers clink their glasses with their forks expecting the bride and groom to be to kiss. Cooper decides to give them what they want. Cooper walks over to Charlotte. He grabs her in his arms and dips her. Charlotte leans back falling into Cooper's arms. He kisses her. This is no regular kiss. This kiss is slow and deep. After the kiss is finished Cooper sweeps his bride to be up in his arms. Charlotte has to admit to herself she loves it. Cooper turned out to be her _prince _after all. Everyone applauds.

After a few minutes everyone sits down to eat. Cooper stands up to give a toast to his soon to be wife. "_Charlotte -I want you to know, you are the reason I breathe. I can not live without you. I know I haven't been the perfect boyfriend. There's many things I wish I didn't say. It's something I have to live with everyday. I'm sorry for all the pain I've put you through. I apologize here to you and I promise to start over new. I love you!"_ Charlotte gets up and hugs him with tears in her eyes.

"I'm not perfect either- far from it." She looks at their guests. Turning to Cooper, "you didn't have to say that in front of everyone."

"I did Charlotte. I need you and everyone to know I didn't mean any of the things I said to you when we were fighting." He talks softly to just Charlotte.

"Cooper I know you didn't mean it. Do you think I would agree to marry you if I thought you meant any of it? Just don't do it again." She pinches him playfully to try and lighten the mood.

Cooper smiles "I promise I won't. Now Let's eat." They both sit back down at the table.

After lunch, the happy couple open their gifts and thank the guests. After everyone leaves. Charlotte approaches Violet. "I want to thank you for being one of the best friends I've ever had." Violet and Charlotte hug both with tears in their eyes.

"Cooper really loves you." Violet tells her. "I'm happy for you both. I really am."

Cooper walks over to them. "This was a really nice party. Thanks Vi."

"My pleasure." Violet walks off and leaves Charlotte and Cooper alone on the deck.

"This was an incredible surprise." Charlotte tells him.

"No, no you don't. We promised to never lie to each other and I can tell when you're lying to me now." Cooper teases her. "You weren't surprised. You had it all figured out as we were driving here didn't you?"

"Maybe." Charlotte answers as she plays with the buttons on his shirt. "But I was surprised at how beautiful it was and I was surprised at your speech."

Cooper pulls her closer and hugs her. "I can't wait until this is our wedding day. I can't wait for you to be my bride."

"Me too." Charlotte turns her head up and looks into his eyes. "I can't wait to call you my husband."

The sun set as Charlotte and Cooper stood on the deck holding hands; both of them gazing over the ocean dreaming about their future together as husband and wife.

**...TO...Be...Continued...**

A/N- Thank you to Scarlett 88 for being such an awesome beta for this chapter!


	44. Chapter 44

**CHAPTER 44**

Cooper knocks on the door and peeks into Charlotte's office at St. Ambrose. "How's it feel to be back at work Dr. King?"

"It feels great and soon you're not going to be able to call me that anymore. It's going to be Dr. King-Freedman." Charlotte's glowing.

"I can't believe the wedding's one week away." Cooper smiles nervously rubbing his hands together.

"You're not getting' cold feet on me are ya'?" Charlotte teases him.

"No chance." Cooper approaches her desk and knocks on it twice.

"What are you so worked up about then?" Charlotte raises one eyebrow up at him.

"I'm not worked up about anything." Cooper tries to raise his eyebrow up at her in response.

"I know you better than you know yourself and you're worked up about something. Now spill it." Charlotte stares at him.

"Tonight's my bachelor party." Cooper answers.

"I know…My bachelorette party's tonight too… What's the problem?"

"I don't know... I don't need to look at strippers anymore. I just want to stay home and look at you." Cooper says with his head down and eyes looking up at Charlotte.

"Go to your bachelor party Cooper and have a good time. I trust you... I'm going to have a good time tonight."

"How good?" Cooper asks.

"Same as you, I plan on having fun but I know I've got you to come home to. Now come on over here."

Cooper steps behind Charlotte's desk. She kisses him on the cheek and whispers in his ear. "Go lock my office door and shut the blinds."

"Whhhyyy...?" Cooper stretches out his question as Charlotte blows light kisses on his neck.

"Because I'm gonna give you something to think about tonight, give you something to look forward to when you get home, so you don't need to pay any mind to those strippers." Charlotte slips her hand below Coopers' belt into his pants and massages him as she blows kisses behind his ear.

"Charlotte! Let me close the blinds first!" Cooper scolds her. Cooper walks to the door,locks it and closes the blinds.

Charlotte unbuttons her blouse for him. "Git over here you! I'm gonna give you an afternoon you'll never forget. Never mind your damn bachelor party." She teases

It doesn't take much to persuade Cooper. He's back at Charlotte's desk lickety split fast. He leans her onto the desk and climbs on top of her.

"Just remember my one rule." Charlotte tells him.

"Yeah, what's that?" He asks as he kisses down her neck.

"We can only use our tongues." Charlotte answers.

"What? Why?" Cooper whines.

"We have to save something for the honeymoon." Charlotte pulls him back on top of her.

Cooper sighs" One more week... One more week." He says as he kisses her.

**Half hour later **Charlotte and Cooper are snuggled together in each others arms on the couch in Charlottes' office. There's a knock at the door. "Be there in a minute" Charlotte yells to the door. They both get up and tuck in their shirts. Charlotte pats down her hair and wipes her mouth with her hand. She opens the door. "Violet, What can I do for you?"

Violet walks in the office and spots Cooper sitting on the couch. "What were you two doing in here with the door locked?... As if I didn't know better. ...I thought you wanted to save it for the honeymoon Charlotte?" Violet asks all smug.

"I do... I am... We didn't do what you think we did." Charlotte tells her.

"Sure looks like you did." Violet responds.

"There's more than one way to skin a cat." Charlotte's eyebrow is up again.

"Don't tell her that!" Cooper interjects. "It's none of her business. Did you tell her we're waiting for the honeymoon?" Cooper demands of Charlotte.

"Well, if I didn't, you just did" Charlotte answers back.

"Oh come on. Now all the guys are going to know I can't have sex, that your making me wait until the honeymoon." Cooper complains.

Violet laughs. "How long has it been anyway?

Now Charlotte raises two eyebrows at him. "Good job there loose lips."

Violet laughs. "I won't tell anyone, besides I'm here to talk to Charlotte about the bachelorette party tonight. Addison arranged to have the limo pick us up at eight at my place."

"Okay. I'll be ready." Charlotte smiles.

"Where are you going?" Cooper asks.

"That is none of _your _business." Violet tells him. "We're going to make sure Charlotte has a good time before she commits to you."

Charlotte smiles and Cooper rolls his eyes.

Pete walks by the office and sees them all in there. He stops in. "Ready for tonight Coop? I've got a great evening planned."

Cooper smirks at Charlotte. Charlotte smirks back at Cooper. "Don't do anything I won't" He smiles at her.

"I trust you...Do you trust me? Charlotte asks.

Cooper nods his head. "Okay so we'll both have a good time tonight." He sighs.


	45. Chapter 45

**CHAPTER 45**

Charlotte's wearing her short black dress when the limo arrives to pick both her and Violet up for her special night out with the girls before the wedding. She steps into the white stretch limo and is shocked to find her good friend Amy, her cousin Summer and Monica her ex husband's girlfriend sitting in the limo with Addison, Amelia and Naomi. "My tail feathers? What are you all doing here?" Charlotte's surprised.

"We wanted to surprise you. We flew in today and figure we'll stay and help you prepare for the wedding this week"

"Great. Is Luke with you?" Charlotte asks Amy about her husband.

"Yup, he's going to Cooper's bachelor party with Mark." Amy tells her.

"Mark's here too. Does Cooper know?" Charlotte asks.

"Of course," Monica answers. "Who do you think called us and invited us all to come out a week before the wedding?"

"Cooper called you all to come out?" Charlotte's surprised again. "He didn't tell me."

"That's the beauty of it Charlotte. He wanted to surprise you." Addison adds.

"So, where are y'all taking me?" Charlotte's looks out the window of the limo.

"First we're all going out to dinner and then to an exotic dance club. The men at this club are the hottest in LA." Addison adds.

"I'm too old for this stuff." Violet rolls her eyes.

"I don't know Vi, Pete's planning something similar for Cooper." Addison informs her.

"That doesn't surprise me." Violet folds her arms against her chest."

**After dinner the woman arrive** at the exotic dancer club. They're seated at a table close to the stage. Addison orders a round of drinks for the table. The women drink to loosen up and watch the young men dance provocatively for them on stage. Amy orders the next round of drinks. "Take it off!" Naomi yells. Charlotte and Violet laugh.

"She doesn't hold her liquor well." Violet tells the table.

"No she doesn't" Addison agrees and yells herself. "Whew! Take it off." A young man dances over to Addison and she slips a twenty in his waist strap. She points at Charlotte. "My friends getting married, give her a lap dance." The man works his way over to Charlotte.

She watches him dance and he wiggles his hips in front of her. She looks up at him and thinks "Oh crap!" to herself "I know this guy." She hopes he doesn't remember her. He slides his body down her chair and looks at her. After dancing for her a few minutes she sticks a twenty dollar bill in his strap hoping he will go away. "Thank you" He says "Hey wait a minute, I know you."

"No, no you don't." She answers nervously."

"Yeah, sure I do. We met on the internet. Remember me. I'm Drew." He's swinging his waist in front of her.

"That wasn't me." Charlotte's embarrassed in front of her friends.

"Sure it was you. I could never forget those green eyes and ...well." He winks. "We had a real good time Remember?" I got a tattoo of a python on my... you know." He glances down to the middle of his waist. " We'd meet every Friday night until you stopped calling." Charlotte's mortified. The stripper continues. "If you want to come in the back with me I'll refresh your memory. Show you my tattoo again."

"Uh. No thank you." Charlotte doesn't want to be reminded of the lonely time of her life before she met Cooper when she met random men on the internet for sex. "Can you just go now? Please." Charlotte offers him another twenty. Drew takes the money and dances over to another table.

"What was that all about?" Monica is the first to ask

"Just some weirdo." Charlotte lies. Another guy dances over to them and Naomi puts money in his strap. Violet pays for the next round of drinks and Charlotte thinks this is going to be a long night. She can't wait to go home to her Cooper.

**At the same time a few miles away, **Cooper, Pete, Sam , Gabriel Fife, Sheldon, Luke and Mark are celebrating Cooper's bachelor party. They're at Pete's house. Pete surprised Cooper with not one but _two_ strippers. The women dance seductively around the room as the men drink and hoot at them. Finally both of the woman make their way to Cooper who is sitting in a chair. One of the woman sits on his lap and pulls off her top. The other woman pulls off her top and shakes her body directly in front of him. "Oh boy" Cooper takes a deep breath. "I'm going to need a cold shower. Who wants a lap dance?' Cooper calls out. He knows he needs to get away from these women. He's had plenty to drink and doesn't trust himself.

"She can dance for me if you don't want her." Mark calls out and the woman looks at Cooper.

"Go give him the lap dance." Cooper tells stripper number one and then Stripper number two climbs on Coopers lap. "Noooo…..Nooooo…..No…." Cooper bellows. "See him...?" Cooper points to Sheldon. "He could really use a lap dance." The stripper dances her way over to Sheldon.

"What's wrong with you?" Pete asks.

"Agh… I've got to go home to Charlotte." Cooper finishes his beer.

"You're getting married. You're not dead. Come on. Loosen up." Pete chuckles.

"You forget. I'm marrying Charlotte. If I touch one of those women I might as well be dead." Cooper raises his eyebrows at Pete. Pete laughs sitting back down on the couch to watch Sheldon get his lap dance

"You'd think this is Sheldons' bachelor party the ways he's grinning."Pete looks over to Cooper.

"Uhm… mmmm." Cooper responds. Cooper's grateful he's the one going home to Charlotte and Sheldon who's got the stripper tonight.

**Three am** Cooper arrives home to his apartment to find a body asleep in his bed. He slowly walks over to look at the sleeping frame. "Charlotte? What are you doing here?

Charlotte wakes up and groggily says "I missed you. I wanted to sleep next to you tonight."

"Didn't you have a good time at your party?" Cooper sits next to her on the bed.

"I missed you. I just wanted to go home and watch TV with you. What's wrong with me Coop? Am I old and boring."

"No. ...No. You'll always be exciting to me. We've both grown up this past year."

"You're just trying to be nice." She smiles soft.

No I'm not. I couldn't wait to go home either. Pete hired these strippers for me but I gave them to Sheldon."

"To Sheldon?" Charlotte quirks an eyebrow.

"I've never seen Sheldon look so happy in his life." Cooper winks at her.

"Good for Sheldon then. Now are you going to get on top of me or do I have to jump on you?" Charlotte looks at Cooper like a cat ready to pounce.

"Remember your rule." Cooper warns her.

"We can only use our tongues until the honeymoon. You still okay with that?... Because if your not….?"

"I'm okay with it….. Now be quiet and use your tongue." Cooper tells her.

Charlotte laughs and thinks about how lucky she is. Cooper thinks the same.


	46. Chapter 46

**CHAPTER 46**

The big day is finally here. Today's the day Charlotte will marry Cooper. She nervous. Not because she's marrying Cooper but because all eyes will be on her. They invited all their family and friends. All of Cooper's family from Ohio are here. Her family flew in from Alabama. They invited almost all the staff from St Ambrose, Oceanside Wellness and Pacific Wellcare. Charlotte has butterflies in her stomach. She's two weeks late also. She's been telling herself it's the stress of the wedding but she's not so sure anymore. Her boobs are swollen and sensitive. She nearly jumped a foot into the air when Cooper tried to touch her yesterday. She bought a home pregnancy test the other day but hasn't got up the nerve to use it. She decides to go for it, just do it before she gets ready for the wedding. She doesn't want to leave for her honeymoon unsure about it. She opens the package and takes it into the bathroom and then waits. When time is up she looks at it and sighs.

Violet knocks at the door. She's already dressed in a red gown. "You look gorgeous." Charlotte inspects her gown.

"It's time to get the bride ready now."

Charlotte beams as Violet helps her into her gown. Violet places the crown with attached veil on Charlotte's head. Charlotte had her make up and hair done by a professional earlier.

"You're glowing this morning Charlotte." Violet smiles.

"I'm a bride. Aren't all brides supposed to glow?"

"I guess. Maybe it's the makeup. I don't know. We should get going. The photographer's waiting downstairs."

**At the beach there is a **big white hupa/canopy set up. Cooper's waiting under it along with both a pastor and a rabbi. Sam's standing next to him as the best man. Cooper looks out into the crowd and sees his parents seated in the front row. Charlotte's momma is seated in the front row on the opposite side along with Charlotte's brothers' families. Monica and Mark are sitting behind them. There's a large crowd of friends from the hospital. Cooper's proud to make Charlotte his wife in front of everyone they know.

The music begins and Livi walks down the make shift center aisle tossing white flower pedals in a beautful white dress. Next comes Summer and then Amy dressed in red matching gowns. Here comes Violet. She walks up the aisle smiling at Cooper. Her best friend is finally getting married today and she's truly happy for him. After Violet steps under the hupa canopy, the Wedding March begins to play.

The guests stand up and turn their heads to watch Charlotte begin her march down the aisle to start her life with Cooper as husband and wife. She looks exceptionally stunning today. Her face is glowing and her smile is brightly of the guest have never seen Charlotte King smile so bright before. Duke and Landry each hold onto an arm as both her brothers escort her up the aisle. Cooper studies her beautiful white A line gown. The off the shoulder straps are trimmed with small crystals. A long white train follows behind. Cooper's happy she went with a long simple gown. He knows it's partly to please his old fashioned mother. He couldn't love Charlotte anymore than he does right now. Charlotte reaches the hupa and joins Cooper in front of the pastor and rabbi. Cooper lifts her veil off her face and gives her a nervous smile. They exchange vows and are both eager when the pastor and rabbi tell Cooper he may now kiss his bride. They're both aware of all the eyes watching especially his parents and Cooper gives her a tasteful kiss. The rabbi announces them as Mr. and Mrs. Cooper Freedman. The crowd claps as they walk back down the make shift aisle with the bridal party following close behind.

The reception is a blast, everyone's dancing and drinking. Violet dances with both Sheldon and Pete. Addison hangs mostly with Sam and Naomi sits with Gabriel Fife. It's a nice evening. Momma is on her best behavior mixing well with the crowd even trying to get to know Cooper's parents. Charlotte laughs as she watches Sheldon attempt to do the chicken dance. It comes time for Charlotte to toss the bouquet to all the single women. It flies in the air close to Violet, Addison, Naomi and Amelia. They all jump for it; well it even looks like they may be fighting for it. Addison being the tallest is the first one to grab it and she ams a smiles at Sam when she does.

"That means you're the next one to get married!" The little flower girl Livi shouts out to her.

"Yes it does." Addison smiles to Sam again and Sam rolls his eyes and smiles back.

Violet looks disappointed and it doesn't go unnoticed by Charlotte and Cooper. "Don't worry, someday when the time is right." Cooper assures Violet.

Sheldon overhearing this hurries and asks Violet for the next dance. Violet goes off to dance with Sheldon while Pete scowls about it.

Charlotte laughs.

"You're in a great mood." Cooper teases her grabbing her around the waist.

"Why not? I'm married to you and tonight we don't have to use our tongues for the first time in a week and…..." Charlotte stops herself.

"What?" Cooper asks.

"I have a special surprise for you tonight, when we're alone." She tells him.

"Hmmmm." Cooper can't wait for tonight.

The band leader calls Cooper over. It's time for him to throw the garter he took off of Charlotte earlier. The crowd of single men gather. Sam, Pete and Sheldon all try their hardest to catch the garter but it's Pete being the tallest that wins this one. Sam's annoyed. The band leader tells Addison to sit in the chair and the crowd gathers. The band plays the song-Bad To The Bone- as Pete slowly slides the garter up Addison's calf. He reaches her knee and the crowd yell "higher!" Pete listens and slides the garter up over her knee. "Higher!" Sheldon yells and Pete listens. Sam scowls at Sheldon and Sheldon shifts uncomfortable now. Pete pushes the garter halfway up Addison's thigh until she snaps at him, "Enough. Stop." Pete listens. The crowd cheers and Sam glares at both Addison and Pete. He walks up to Naomi and asks her to dance. Gabriel Fife tells her it's okay since he feels bad she's been sitting at the table all night with him while everyone else has been dancing. Addison asks Sheldon to dance to the slow song with her, while Violet dances with Pete. Charlotte and Cooper join their friends and family on the dance floor. Cooper holds her tight. He whispers in her ear as they slow dance. "I can't wait for my surprise tonight." Charlotte thinks-Oh it's going to be the biggest surprise of his life. She smiles thinking about it and rests her head on his shouder. "This is the best day of my life." She tells him and he feels all tingly about that.

**Later that night, Cooper carries Charlotte **into the honeymoon suite of their hotel. They plan to leave in the morning for a two week get away in Australia.

Cooper places Charlotte down on the bed. "I have to change first." Charlotte gets up and takes off her dress.

"What are you going to do to me?" He asks Charlotte as she changes her clothes.

"What do you mean what am I going to do to you?" Charlotte's exhausted from the days' events. She plops down on the bed next to him.

"You said you had a surprise for me when we were all alone." Cooper winks.

"Oh that. It's not what you have in mind." She tells him.

"Well then what?" He asks curiously.

She takes his hand and places it on her lower abdomen. "Feel this. Feel how flat it is now?" She holds his hand below her belly button.

"Yeah?" Coopers' thinks this is a new game Charlotte learned about in her sexology conference.

"Enjoy it now because it's going to get inflated real fast." Charlotte rolls over and looks at him.

"What are you talking about?" Cooper's baffled, what kind of game does she have in mind for them. This is new.

"Do I have to spell it out for you Cooper?" Charlotte sighs and waits for him to answer. He doesn't so she continues, "There's a tiny little Freedman growing inside me."

"You're pregnant?" Cooper's eyes widen and his mouth drops.

"Yes. I'm pregnant." Now close your mouth before some flies make it their new home."

"This is the best surprise ever you could ever give me." Cooper rubs his hand over Charlotte's belly.

"Hi little grasshopper." Cooper kisses Charlotte's belly and talks to it. Charlotte rests her head on her pillow enjoying every second of it.

After a minute Cooper rests his head on the pillow next to Charlotte's still holding his hand on her belly. "I love you wife."

Charlotte looks at Cooper. "I love _you_ husband."

"Can we consummate our marriage now?" He quiety blows the words out with hot breath behind her ear waiting for an answer, knowing she's exhausted. He adds. "If you're too tired, I understand."

"Are you kiddin'? Get on top of me and make me your wife!" Charlotte orders bossily with a smile.

"Yes ma'am!" Cooper rolls on top of Charlotte and kisses his bride.

**The End.**

**There will be an epilogue to follow.**


	47. Chapter 47

********Epilogue********************

Charlotte and Cooper walk into the small Italian restaurant. Charlotte's dressed up in a black elegant gown exposing just enough cleavage to keep Cooper's eyes from wandering off of her. Cooper's wearing his best suit and black tie. The host escorts them to a little quiet table in the back and they take their seats.

The waiter begins to pour wine in the glasses already set at the table. Charlotte covers her glass with her hand. "None for me. I'll have some of your best sparkling water." She tells the waiter.

Cooper gives her a turned up smile. "One glass of wine isn't going to hurt Charlotte. Just feed her some formula tonight." Charlotte gives him somewhat of a glare. "Okay _I'll _feed her some formula tonight. You can sleep through the night Charlotte."

Charlotte bites her lip and crinkles her nose.

Cooper can tell she's debating it. "Come on; it's just one night. Relax and forget you're a mom. Let loose."

Charlotte takes her hand off the glass and nods her head for the waiter to pour.

After the waiter leaves the table Charlotte looks to Cooper. "It's a little hard to forget I'm a mom when my boobs are leakin' milk." She looks around.

Cooper chuckles. It's their night out since Emma Lili was born and also their first wedding anniversary. "I can help you with that if they're still leaking when we get home tonight."

"You're goin' to be too busy feeding Emma her formula." She turns her lip up and smiles then she turns her attention to the menu.

"I'm not going to be feeding her all night. Hmm.. I'm in the mood for warm milk tonight."

Charlotte can't help but laugh behind the menu but doesn't let Cooper see. "We'll see if you'll be gettin' any milk tonight." The truth is Charlotte wants it just as bad as Cooper. Since the birth of Emma she can count the number of times they've been intimate on one hand. She's been either too exhausted from the 2 am feedings or else interrupted by a crying baby to give Cooper much attention lately.

"Oh come on Char. I said I'd feed her for you tonight" Cooper loves his daughter but has to get used to the idea of sharing Charlotte's body with the tiny feeding machine.

"Feed her for _me_? As I recall she's half yours." Charlotte peeks out from her menu.

"You know what I mean. You don't have to nurse her tonight."

Charlotte picks up her glass of wine and takes a big sip. She looks at Cooper and slips out of her shoe. She gently rubs her foot against his leg slowly working it up under his pants. She gets it almost up to his knee. Cooper squirms a little in his seat raises his eyebrows, "I take that as a yes?"

Cooper slips his shoe off and works his foot up under her dress, slowly and gently, as far as it can go. Charlotte opens her eyes wide. "Maybe we should skip dinner."

"No no." Cooper winks at her. " We'll eat and go home and have _desert_."

The couple return home to find their babysitter, Violet Turner, on the couch watching television. "Welcome home," she says while she stuffs a fistful of popcorn in her mouth.

"How was Emma?" Cooper asks.

"She's a good baby." Violet tells. "I just gave her a bottle and put her down in her crib about fifteen minutes ago."

"That means we have two hours and forty five minutes." Charlotte tells Cooper referring to how much time is left before Emma wakes up for her next feeding.

"Thanks Vi, you'd better get going. I'm sure Pete and Lucas are waiting up for you."

"No, actually I just talked to Pete. Lucas is sleeping and Pete was getting ready to turn in himself."

"Thanks for babysitting Violet." Charlotte hands Violet her purse.

"Wait. I wanted to watch the end of this show." Violet stuffs more popcorn in her mouth.

"How much longer?" Charlotte asks a little annoyed.

"Another half hour." Violet answers looking at both of them. Cooper rolls his eyes.

"You'll have to show yourself out then." Charlotte tells Violet and then grabs Cooper's arm pulling him towards the stairs.

Violet calls up the stairs after them. "If you're planning on making baby number two, I just want to let you know, I'm going to start charging."

Before heading into the bedroom Charlotte and Cooper stop off in the nursery to check Emma. The little fair haired baby is sound asleep under a pink blanket. The nursery is decorated with pink walls and a horse theme. Colorful horses and ponies adorn the walls of the nursery. They stare at their little accomplishment for a few moments and then Cooper scoops his wife up in his arms and carries her to their bed. He lays her down and then rests his body on top of her. They both look into each other's eyes and no words are necessary. There may be no such thing as happily ever after but right now they are as close to it as it gets!

***********************THE END********************************************


End file.
